In the Qualification for the World Cup in France, for which Asian women were again given five starting positions, Japan qualified by reaching the semi-finals of the 2018 AFC Women's Asian Cup. For this championship, which takes place in April 2018 in Jordan, Japan was automatically qualified. In the first game against Vietnam, a 4-0 was achieved, the second game against South Korea ended goalless. In the decisive third group match against Australia, which also drew 0-0 against South Korea but won 8-0 against Vietnam, Japan were 1-0 ahead after 63 minutes and would have been group winners in that event. However, four minutes before the end of the game, Sam Kerr scored the 1-1 draw for Australia, and as they stayed 4-0 in South Korea's parallel with Vietnam, Japan were second in the Asian Cup semi-finals also reached the World Cup finals. In the semifinals, Japan defeated China 3-1 and defended their title 1-0 in the final against Australia.