Matthew Chadder

Tue 13 June 2023 18:55, UK

Mana Iwabuchi has missed out on Japan’s squad for the Women’s World Cup this summer for the first time in her career, as reported by the BBC on 13 June.

A World-Cup winner with her nation in 2011, Iwabuchi will not be travelling with her country to Australia and New Zealand this summer after a disappointing loan spell with Tottenham.

As well as winning the competition in 2011, Iwabuchi was part of the Japan World Cup squads that lost the final to the United States in 2015, and the last 16 to the Netherlands in 2019.

The 30-year-old spent half the season on loan at Tottenham after arriving at the club in January from Arsenal in a rare transfer deal between the two bitter rivals. After falling down the pecking order at the Gunners, Iwabuchi would have been hoping to revive her WSL career with Tottenham.

However, she failed to impress and was only able to score once in 13 appearances for Spurs, and will now miss out on the World Cup after 90 appearances for Japan, in which she has scored 37 goals.

The decision may come as a surprise to some with Iwabuchi having represented Japan since she was just 16 years old and widely viewed as the face of women’s football in the country.

As reported by BBC Sport (13 June), head coach Futoshi Ikeda commented on the player’s omission, “Iwabuchi is a player who has done a lot to drive this team forward but I am choosing 23 players for this specific time and there is no one reason for my choices.

“It’s about form, fitness, the state of the team and what we need in certain situations.”

It is hard to disagree with the Japan head coach after Iwabuchi struggled to make an impact in a team battling relegation, perhaps suggesting her best days are behind her.

Iwabuchi will be 31 next year and may now fear that she has already played her final World Cup for her country, especially if her form shows no signs of picking up.

In other Tottenham news, the men’s team should make a swoop for an “untouchable” defender.