is a Japanese professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

player who plays as a midfielder for the North Carolina Courage in the

National Women's Soccer League The National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) is a professional women's soccer league at the top of the United States league system. It is owned by the teams and, until 2020, was under a management contract with the United States Soccer Federatio ...

(NWSL). She played for

Japan women's national under-20 football team The Japan women's national under-20 football team is a national association football youth team of Japan and is controlled by the Japan Football Association. The nickname of Japan women's national under-20 football team is the Young Nadeshiko ( ...

and was an integral part of the team that made the 2022 FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup final. She made history in the NWSL when she became the youngest player to start in the

2023 NWSL Challenge Cup The 2023 NWSL Challenge Cup, known as the 2023 UKG NWSL Challenge Cup for sponsorship reasons, is a league cup competition that will take place during the 2023 National Women's Soccer League season. It will be the fourth edition of the NWSL Chall ...

and also became the youngest player to score in the Challenge Cup.

Club career

Mynavi Sendai

Matsukubo made her professional debut for Mynavi Sendai of the WE League on 5 March 2023 and played 1,075 minutes across the season. She helped the team to a fourth-place finish in her first year as a professional, scoring four goals and adding one assist.

North Carolina Courage (loan)

On 27 July 2023, the North Carolina Courage acquired Matsukubo on loan from Mynavi Sendai through June 2024. She made her first NWSL appearance on 27 August 2023. With the Courage, Matsukubo became the youngest player to start a game in the

NWSL Challenge Cup The NWSL Challenge Cup, currently known as the UKG NWSL Challenge Cup for sponsorship reasons, is an annual tournament organized by the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL), the top-tier women's league in the United States soccer league system. Th ...

and the youngest to score. In the

Challenge Cup final The Challenge Cup of Rugby league was instituted in the 1896–97 Northern Rugby Football Union season, 1896–97 and the final was contested between Batley Bulldogs, Batley and St Helens R.F.C., St. Helens at Headingley Rugby Stadium, Headingley, ...

against

Racing Louisville Racing Louisville Football Club is a National Women's Soccer League team based in Louisville, Kentucky. It began playing in 2021 at Lynn Family Stadium. The team is owned by Soccer Holdings LLC, which also owns Louisville City FC of the USL Cham ...

, she was named the MVP after scoring on a chip volley off a pass from

Tess Boade Theresa Stephanie Boade (born February 3, 1999) is an American professional soccer player who plays as a midfielder for North Carolina Courage of the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL), She played college soccer for the Duke Blue Devils, a ...

in the 54th minute, lifting the Courage to the final score of 2–0. Matsukubo scored her first regular-season goal the next week in a 2–1 loss to the Orlando Pride. In the Courage's last regular-season game, Matsukubo had an assist—a cross converted by Tyler Lussi—in the Courage's 1–0 win against the Washington Spirit that clinched their spot in the playoffs.

International career

Matsukubo played for Japan's U-20 World Cup team during the

FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup The FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup is an international association football tournament, organized by FIFA (Fédération Internationale de Football Association), for national teams of women under the age of 20. The tournament is held in even-numbere ...

in 2022. She was called up to play for the U-20 Japan Women's National Team for the AFC U20 Women's Asian Cup in 2024, but she left early to return to her club.

Career statistics

Club

Honours

JFA Academy Fukushima * Nadeshiko Challenge League: 2020 * Nadeshiko League 2: 2021 North Carolina Courage *

2023 Events Predicted and scheduled events * January 1 ** In the United States, books, films, and other works published in 1927 will enter the public domain, assuming there are no changes made to copyright law. ** Croatia will adopt the eu ...

Individual * WE League Outstanding Player Award: 2022–23

References

External links

* Living people 2004 births Japanese women's footballers Japan women's youth international footballers Mynavi Sendai Ladies players WE League players North Carolina Courage players National Women's Soccer League players Japanese expatriate women's footballers Japanese expatriate sportspeople in the United States Association football people from Kagoshima Prefecture Expatriate women's soccer players in the United States {{Japan-women-footy-bio-stub