India U20 vs Japan U20: Defensive struggles, lack of threat and other talking points from AFC U20 Women's Asian Cup

Six-time champions Japan scored six goals against the Blue Tigresses

India U20 women’s team had a poor start to their 2026 U20 AFC Women’s Asian Cup campaign, suffering a dismal 6-0 loss to Japan U20 on Thursday (2 April 2026). Despite holding out their opponents to a 1-0 deficit in the first half, the Japanese women ran rampant in the second half and scored five goals, getting a huge win to kick off the campaign.

For Joakim Alexandersson’s side, it was a frustrating match in which they failed to really create that many chances and defensive errors allowed the Japan side to soar into a comfortable position. Many things went pretty badly wrong for the Indian women, whose lack of experience in this kind of major stages were laid bare in the opening game.

Even though the Indian side did a pretty good job at keeping Japan U20 quiet in the first half, things went from bad to worse after the break – handing them a humiliating loss. Quite a few observations could be made from India U20’s loss to their Japanese counter-parts, as we look at them here.

4. Lack of transitional threat dampens India’s attacking quality

The India U20 side didn’t have a single shot on target or even a shot attempt in the loss to Japan U20. Their only ‘chance’ was a set-piece in the first half, which was guided wide and was later called to be offside. The Young Tigresses were too careful in their approach, being more intent on trying to neutralize the Japanese players from scoring rather than actually looking to score themselves. The biggest drawback for the Indian ladies in the game was regarding how ineffective their work was after regaining possession.

The India U20 players were able to regain possession on quite a few occasions, but they failed to switch on and get the blal into the danger areas after that. There was little creativity in terms of moving the ball forward and the forwards had a game to forget. The likes of Sulanjana Raul, Sibani Devi and Lhingdeikim failed to threaten the Japanese defenders, lacking any speed or aggression in their counter-attacking capabilities. India’s lack of counter-attack threat made it too easy for the Japanese players, raising their confidence levels to put on the clinical show in the second half.

3. Defensive struggles on left-wing comes backs to haunt India U20

From the get-go of the match, the Japan U20 side showed their cards and willingness in creating the majority of the chances through their right-wing. They realized the weaknesses in the India U20 captain Shubangi Singh, who really had a game to forget. The majority of Japan’s attacking moves were created through that side, with Shubangi being overwhelmed by the persistent attacks through her side.

Unfortunately for the Indian skipper, she received very little support from her left-winger, causing the Japanese players to put her in some really uncomfortable situations. As a result, many of Japan U20’s goals were because of sloppy defending from India’s left-side, because there just wasn’t enough defensive cover on that side for the Young Tigresses. Unfortunately for Singh, her errors saw her taken off before the hour-mark – capping off a forgettable outing for the skipper.

2. Monalisha Devi’s weaknesses laid bare in horrific second half

The Indian side were able to hold their own in the first half against Japan U20, but a big reason for their struggles after the break was also because of some lamentable goalkeeping work from Monalisha Devi. The 19-year-old, who is India U20’s most experienced goalkeeper prospect in the tournament, couldn’t do much for Japan’s opening goal – but her goalkeeping skills were really questionable in the second half.

Her positioning for a number of Japan U20’s goals was quite poor, allowing the opposition players to slot some relatively weak shots right past her. Devi conceded a poor goal from a corner in the second half, and a few of the shots from the Japanese players could’ve been saved if her positioning and shot-stopping reflexes been better. This was probably a reality check for Monalisha, who will need to work harder to concede fewer goals later in the tournament.

1. Japan’s composed dominance overwhelms India U20

Japan U20 definitely proved why they’re one of the favorites to win the U20 AFC Women’s Cup 2026 with a superb display against India U20. However, the thing which really stood through with their performance was how patient the Japanese players were in terms of exhausting their counter-parts before opening the floodgates.

In the first half, the Japan players were more focused on controlling the possession and making their opposition players run their socks off – causing them to get exhausted and draining out their energy levels. The Japanese players were really patient with their build-up play and execution, frustrating the Indian ladies and triggering mistakes in the second half. Japan’s dominance ended up paying off spectacularly in the second half, as they scored five goals to get a big win by capitalizing on India’s errors.

For more updates, follow Khel Now on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Youtube; download the Khel Now Android App or IOS App and join our community on Whatsapp & Telegram.