SEATTLE – In an upsetting international friendly match that closed out the first leg of their three-game series in the Pacific Northwest, Japan’s women’s national team delivered a 1-0 defeat to the reigning power U.S. Women’s National Team (USWNT) on Tuesday, snapping the Americans’ 10-match undefeated winning run.
The result marked the USWNT’s first loss since a 2-1 away defeat to Portugal back in October 23, 2025, and ended a 41-game streak of matches where the American side had avoided being held scoreless. The Tuesday defeat comes just three days after the USWNT claimed a tight 2-1 win over Japan in a Saturday meeting in San Jose, ending a prior losing run to the Japanese side that dated back to Japan’s 2-1 victory over the USWNT in the 2025 SheBelieves Cup final.
The game’s only goal came in the 27th minute, when 21-year-old forward Maika Hamano outmaneuvered American defender Lilly Reale with a clever feint, then unleashed a curling left-footed strike that sailed over the outstretched glove of U.S. goalkeeper Phallon Tullis-Joyce to find the top right corner of the net.
USWNT head coach Emma Hayes made the controversial call to drastically reshuffle her starting lineup from Saturday’s victory, opting to rest star starters Sophia Wilson and Trinity Rodman among other key players. All four rested players — Wilson, Rodman, center back Tierna Davidson, and defender Gisele Thompson — entered the match as second-half substitutes in the 65th minute as Hayes looked to spark an equalizing comeback.
The substitution carried extra storylines for two veterans: Davidson made her first appearance for the national team since February 2025, after suffering a torn ACL during a club match with Gotham FC in March of that year that sidelined her for more than a year. For Wilson, the appearance marked her second consecutive cap for the USWNT following the birth of her daughter last fall, after she had been out of international action since October 2024.
Tuesday’s historic match also carried off-pitch significance for Seattle sports: it was the first time the USWNT had played at Lumen Field since 2017, when the team declined to return due to longstanding concerns over the stadium’s old artificial turf. The venue recently installed a new natural grass surface in preparation for this summer’s FIFA Women’s World Cup, making the friendly the first USWNT match on the new playing surface.
A total of 36,128 fans packed Lumen Field for the match, breaking the all-time attendance record for a standalone women’s soccer match in Seattle. The previous record of 34,130 was set in 2023 during Megan Rapinoe’s retirement match with the NWSL’s Seattle Reign.
The two sides will now travel to Commerce City, Colorado, to play the third and final match of their friendly series this coming Friday, where the USWNT will look to rebound from Tuesday’s upset defeat.