Japan's biggest win since the beginning of the 2023 Women's World Cup

* Scores: Miyazama 43' 62', Mina Tanaka 55', Jun Endo 71', Riko Ueki 90'+11.

Zambia attended the World Cup for the first time, and had to face Japan superior in all aspects in the opening match at Waikato Stadium on the afternoon of July 22, Hanoi time. Japan controlled the ball 60%, launched 26 shots with 11 shots on target, while Zambia did not have a single shot.

Without the excellence of goalkeeper Catherine Musonda and the saving post, Zambia could have conceded more than five goals. Before that, the biggest win at the 2023 World Cup was Spain's defeat of Costa Rica and the United States' victory over Vietnam with the same score of 3-0.

After many attacking efforts, Japan opened the score in the 43rd minute thanks to Hinata Miyazawa. In the second half, striker Mina Tanaka doubled the gap in the 50th minute, but before that she was denied two goals for offside after the referee consulted VAR. The former champion in 2011 then scored two more goals in the 62nd and 71st minutes thanks to Miyazawa and Jun Endo respectively.

VAR continues to be the protagonist of this match with penalty decisions. 53 minutes, Aoba Fujino escaped and was fouled by Musonda in the penalty area. The referee blew the penalty and gave the Zambian goalkeeper a yellow card. After consulting VAR, Fujino made an offside and the penalty was canceled but Musonda's yellow card was not.

In the seventh minute of compensation, the same situation happened except that the substitute Riko Ueki did not make an offside error. Japan was awarded a penalty, and Musonda received a second yellow card, which meant that the red card left the field.

On the 11m mark, Ueki himself made it but did not beat the reserve goalkeeper Eunice Sakala. But the referee ordered it again because the Zambian goalkeeper was already on the goal line before the Japanese player took the shot. At the second chance, Ueki made no mistake, setting the score 5-0. Thus, all seven matches at the 2023 World Cup have penalties, with a three-in and four-miss rate.

This result helps Japan to top Group C after the first match with three points, equal to Spain but ranked above because of the goal difference (+5 vs +3). Costa Rica ranked third, while Zambia came in last.