How to watch Japan vs Sweden: TV channel and start time for Women’s World Cup fixture
In-form Japan face their biggest test of their Women’s World Cup campaign yet as they take on Sweden in the quarter-finals.
Japan have been the standout team of the tournament so far in Australia and New Zealand, thrashing Spain 4-0 in the group stages, and progressed to the quarter-finals after a 3-1 win over Norway in the last-16.
The 2011 World Cup champions are the tournament’s top scorers so far, with striker Hinata Miyazawa leading the golden boot standings with five goals from four games, as Japan have emerged as one of the favourites for the title.
But Sweden offer a true test of those ambitions, after the Olympic silver medalists knocked out the defending champions United States on penalties in the last-16. After a 0-0 draw against the USA, Sweden progressed in dramatic fashion after Lina Hurtig’s penalty was ruled to have crossed the line by an inch.
Here’s everything you need to know.
When is Japan vs Sweden?
The match takes place on Friday 11 August in Auckland, New Zealand. Kick-off is at 8:30am UK time (BST).
What TV channel is it on?
The quarter-final will be shown live on BBC One, with coverage starting from 8:00am BST.
What is the team news?
Japan make one change to their starting line-up, with the impressive left wing-back Jun Endo dropping to the bench and midfielder Hina Sugita coming into the side, in what could be a formation switch from 3-4-3 to 4-3-3.
Sweden are unchanged from the side that started against the USA, although many of the substitutes bench of course made an impact later in extra time against the defending champions.
Japan: Yamashita, Minami, Kumagai, Takahashi, Shimizu, Sugita, Nagano, Hasegawa, Miyazawa, Mina Tanaka, Fujino
Subs: Momoko Tanaka, Hirao, Miyake, Naomoto, Ueki, Endo, Hayashi, Seike, Moriya, Hamano, Chiba, Ishikawa
Sweden: Musovic, Andersson, Eriksson, Ilestedt, Bjorn, Asllani, Angeldal, Rolfo, Kaneryd, Rubensson, Blackstenius
Subs: Falk, Enblom, Sembrant, Lennartsson, Sandberg, Janogy, Hurtig, Jakobsson, Blomqvist, Seger, Bennison, Schough
How did both teams reach the quarter-finals?
Japan (Winners Group C)
5-0 vs Zambia
2-0 vs Costa Rica
4-0 vs Spain
3-1 vs Norway
Sweden (Winners Group G)
2-1 vs South Africa
5-0 vs Italy
2-0 vs Argentina
0-0 vs United States (Won 5-4 on penalties)
