Preview of the East Asian U15 Women’s Football Championship: China Waits Fresh and Ready with an Advantage, Japan Strong but Faces Tough Scheduling

On August 23 at 10 am, Group A of the East Asian Football Federation (EAFF) U15 Girls’ Championship will see China U15 Women’s National Team face off against Japan U15 Women’s National Team.

The 2024 EAFF U15 Girls’ Championship has kicked off at the Dalian Football Youth Training Base. This is the inaugural edition of the tournament, which features ten teams including China, Hong Kong, Macau, Chinese Taipei, Japan, North Korea, South Korea, Mongolia, Guam, and the Northern Mariana Islands. Over 300 officials, referees, coaches, and players have gathered in Dalian.

The ten teams are divided into Groups A and B. Group A includes China, Japan, North Korea, South Korea, and Chinese Taipei. The tournament adopts a promotion-relegation system, where the last-placed team in Group A will be relegated to Group B, while the top team from Group B will be promoted to Group A. There is no championship decided. Additionally, matches are 70 minutes long, shorter than the traditional 90 minutes.

In the opening match, China’s U15 women’s national team played against North Korea’s U15 women’s national team. In the first half, Zhang Lu scored a goal by pushing the ball into the net from the right side of the penalty area, and China led 1-0 at halftime. Shortly after the start of the second half, Zhu Yuting’s goal extended the lead to 2-0. However, North Korea intensified their attack and scored two goals to level the score, ending the match 2-2.

In the second match, China defeated Chinese Taipei 3-0. The three goals were scored in the 13th, 42nd, and 60th minutes, with Zhu Yuting and Li Wanzhao scoring. Li Wanzhao scored twice and provided one assist.

The third round saw China have a bye.

For Japan, they had a bye in the first round, drew 1-1 with South Korea in the second round, and then beat Chinese Taipei 5-0 in the third round, demonstrating their strong capabilities.

Currently on the leaderboard, Japan leads with 4 points from 2 games, having scored 6 goals and conceded 1; China also has 4 points, with 5 goals scored and 2 conceded, placing them second.

Historically, in a friendly match in August 2018, China’s U15 women’s team lost 0-3 to Japan. However, due to changes in both teams’ lineups, that result has limited reference value. Additionally, it is noted that the current Chinese U15 women’s team is not fielding its strongest lineup, as another U15 women’s team is training in Germany.

In terms of scheduling, China has an advantage because they had a bye in the third round, whereas Japan played consecutive matches. China’s last game against Chinese Taipei was on August 18, while Japan faced the same opponent on August 20, meaning China had two more days of rest than Japan. Considering this, along with the home advantage, China is expected to remain undefeated in this match.

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