Japan Women’s Soccer Team Loses Opening Match to Spain; Olympics Opening Ceremony to Begin on Seine River

The Yomiuri Shimbun

17:14 JST, July 26, 2024

PARIS – The opening ceremony of the Paris Olympics was to have begun on and around the Seine River on Friday evening.

This was to become the first opening ceremony for a Summer Olympics that took place outside an arena. There will be a total of 329 events across 32 sports during the Games.

Japan women’s soccer team, ranked seventh in the world, kicked off their Olympic campaign on Thursday with a 2-1 loss to reigning World Cup champions Spain in Group C. Spain’s Mariona Caldentey sealed the win in the 74th-minute with a strike from near the penalty spot into the right-hand side of the goal.

A stunning freekick from Aoba Fujino gave Japan the lead in the 13th minute, despite the best efforts of the Spanish keeper. Less than 10 minutes later, Spain leveled when a well-threaded pass released Aitana Bonmati into the box and she coolly took one touch and slotted the ball under a diving Ayaka Yamashita.

The rest of the match was largely dictated by Spain, which enjoyed 69% of possession and 12 shots to Japan’s four. Nadeshiko couldn’t make use of their quick counterattack that spurred them to a 4-0 victory against Spain in their World Cup group-stage match last year.

“The opponent took the initiative for most of the game. We just couldn’t hold on,” said coach Futoshi Ikeda.

Brazil beat Nigeria 1-0 in the other Group C match on Thursday. The top two teams in each group and the two best third-place finishers progress to the quarterfinals. Japan plays Brazil on Sunday and Nigeria on Wednesday.