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The Canadian women's national soccer team continues to decline.
Ninth-ranked Canada suffered its fourth straight defeat on Saturday, losing 3-0 to Japan in a women's soccer friendly.
Momoko Tanikawa, Mina Tanaka and Aoba Fujino scored for eighth-ranked Japan, which controlled the game at the 20,000-capacity World Stadium in Nagasaki. Canada was outplayed for most of the game and it was one way traffic for a long time.
“We are now at a very difficult stage. You can't shy away from that,” said Team Canada assistant coach Natalie Henderson, who along with head coach Casey Stoney manages the team in England with her ailing mother. “We are certainly not a team that likes to lose or wants to continue this streak. We want to fix the situation and we are trying to fix it.”
“I think there are some positives to take from today. But again, we have to make these positives more consistent.”
Canada fell to 4-9-4 all-time against Japan. The Canadians haven't beaten Japan since a 2-0 Algarve Cup win in March 2018, and have won just one of their last eight meetings.
The two teams will meet again Tuesday at Nagasaki's Trancosmos Stadium in nearby Isahaya in Canada's final match of the year.
Canada will be looking to turn the tide after suffering back-to-back 1-0 defeats to 24th-ranked Switzerland and 11th-ranked Netherlands last month, following a disappointing 3-0 loss to second-ranked United States in July.
It's Canada's longest losing streak since a four-game skid in 2019, including a Round of 16 loss to Sweden at the World Cup in France.
The Canadians, whose 2025 record stands at 6-5-1, have not scored in 364 minutes since Emma Regan's 86th-minute goal in a 4-1 win over Costa Rica on June 27 in Toronto.
Canada dominated Japan
Canada played dangerously early on, turning the ball over several times. Fujino went close in the eighth minute with a long-range shot that bounced off the crossbar.
A Canadian corner in the 30th minute caused some confusion in the Japanese penalty area but did not result in a shot on goal. In the 38th minute, Canadian defender Marie Levasseur's shot hit the net.
Tanikawa put the hosts ahead in the 43rd minute, ending a run in which Canada defended desperately with centre-back Jade Rose blocking two shots.
Japan kept the ball in play and sent it back into the penalty area, where an unmarked Tanikawa scored accurately.
The game began with an errant clearance by Canadian goalkeeper Kaylen Sheridan.
Japan beat Canada 9-2 in the first half, in which Vancouver Rise forward Holly Ward earned her sixth cap as Canada's top scorer. And the Japanese continued to advance in the second half.
The Canadian goalkeeper made a mistake again in the 51st minute: he intercepted the ball under pressure from Tanaka after a back pass in front of the goal. The Utah Royals forward took advantage, clearing Sheridan and slotting the ball into the empty net from close range.
In the 58th minute, the Canadian defense was breached again as Tanikawa's pass found an unmarked Fujino in the penalty area. Her shot went through Sheridan.
The Canada XI included two NSL players.
There have been five changes to Canada's starting line-up to face the Swiss on Oct. 28, including Sheridan, Levasseur, midfielder Simi Awujo and forwards Nichelle Prince and Ward.
Canada's starting line-up, which included two Northern Super League players in Ward and Regan from AFC Toronto, earned a total of 702 caps. Captain Jessie Fleming, one of the team's four centurions, made her 150th cap.
Jordyn Huitema, Julia Grosso, Evelyn Viens, Sydney Collins, Florianne Jourde and Vanessa Gilles all appeared for Canada in the second half for the first time since the July loss to the United States.
The Japanese starting line-up includes eight players from English clubs.
But Canada was left without its star England forward Olivia Smith. Arsenal did not want Smith, who suffered a hip injury while playing for Canada last month, to make the long trip to Japan.
Her absence led to D.B.'s first call. Pridham, NSL Player of the Year. But the Ottawa Rapid star, who was born in California to Canadian parents, is ineligible to compete in the Japan Games because he was unable to obtain a Canadian passport in time.
Having dual citizenship, Pridham traveled on her American passport.
“The situation will be resolved after D.B. returns. to Canada at the end of this window,” Canada Soccer said in a social media post.
Canada was missing the injured Kadeisha Buchanan, Gabby Karl and Lizianne Proulx. Utah Royals forward Chloe Lacasse, returning from a knee injury suffered in October 2024, will not return to Canada until next year.
Annabelle Chukwu (Notre Dame) and Kayla Briggs (Michigan State University) were not available for selection by mutual agreement with their colleges.
