Japanese footballer (born 1993)
 is a Japanese former professional footballer who played as a forward or attacking midfielder. She was most recently with Tottenham Hotspur and has previously played for Aston Villa, Bayern Munich, 1899 Hoffenheim, and Tottenham Hotspur. She has also represented the Japan national team.
Iwabuchi is regarded as a gifted technician with an incredible weight of pass and excellent ball control. Due to her diminutive stature and ability to dribble past opponents with ease, she is affectionately nicknamed 'Manadona' in her home country, after the Argentine legend Diego Maradona.
Known to many as the face of women's football in Japan, Iwabuchi has represented the Japan women's national football team since age 16, enjoying some of her greatest successes on the world stage. She made her full international debut in 2010, and she has since earned over 85 caps and scored 37 goals for Japan. Having participated in three consecutive FIFA Women's World Cup tournaments, Iwabuchi was part of the squad won the title in 2011, appearing as a substitute in the final in Germany when she was just 18 years old. Iwabuchi also has a silver medal to her name from the 2012 Summer Olympics in London and a gold medal from the 2018 Asian Games.
Iwabuchi has been named in the IFFHS AFC Woman Team of the Decade, Asian Young Footballer of the Year twice, recipient of the FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup Golden Ball, the AFC U-19 Women's Championship MVP and Golden Boot, the EAFF Women's Football Championship Golden Boot twice over, and the AFC Women's Asian Cup MVP. Amongst her list of accolades, she is also the youngest ever recipient (aged 18 years 5 months and 0 days) of the People's Honour Award, a prestigious government commendation bestowed by the Prime Minister of Japan, when she received it as part of the World Cup-winning squad of 2011. The youngest person to win the honour individually, is the Japanese figure skater and two-time Olympic champion Yuzuru Hanyu (aged 23 years 6 months and 25 days).
On 1 September 2023, Iwabuchi announced her retirement from professional football.
Early life and education.
Born and raised in Musashino, Iwabuchi began kicking a football and developing her love for the sport at the age of six. At the time, she was also enrolled in piano and ballet lessons. However, her older brother Ryota and the coach of his football club had been persuading her for about a year to join them.
Finally, at age eight, she followed in Ryota's footsteps and joined the local club team, Sekimae SC, where he played. Her talent was recognised early on, and she was invited to train with the older boys. The club was originally called 'Sekimae Boys Soccer Club', but because Iwabuchi became the first girl to join, they renamed the club to 'Sekimae Soccer Club'. A notable figure she was teammates with in her youth is well-known Japanese actor Ryo Ryusei, who commented years later that "she would be dribbling past boys with ease" from an early age and was one of the reasons he gave up on being a professional footballer as he watched her play and realised he would not be good enough.
Iwabuchi attended Komazawa Women's University and was admitted to the Faculty of Intercultural Studies.
Her older brother Ryota, is also a professional footballer currently playing for Fujieda MYFC as a midfielder.
Club career.
Nippon TV Beleza.
At the age of 14, on 21 October 2007, she debuted for Nippon TV Beleza in the Nadeshiko League, Japan's premier division for women's football. By the next year, she had established herself within the first team and received the Best Young Player award for the 2008 season.
During the Nadeshiko League Cup Final on 22 August 2010, her goal in the final minute led Nippon TV Beleza to a 3–2 win against Urawa Reds Ladies. She was named the tournament's MVP. Post-match, she commented on her performance, reflecting a desire to improve and measure up to the standards set by Homare Sawa. She inherited the number 10 jersey from Sawa in the subsequent season at the age of 17.
In the 2011 season, she was the top scorer for her team and the third-highest in the league with 9 goals. Her efforts earned her the Most Hardworking Player award, and she was chosen for the league's Best Eleven.
1899 Hoffenheim.
On 28 November 2012, Iwabuchi joined 1899 Hoffenheim in the 2. Bundesliga and chose the number 28 shirt, the first number she wore for Beleza as a professional footballer. On 17 March 2013, she made her debut in a 6–2 away victory against SV Bardenbach, coming on as a substitute in the 46th minute. On 31 March 2013, she scored her first goal in a 3–2 win over 1. FFC Niederkirchen. Iwabuchi finished the 2012–13 season with four goals in nine appearances as Hoffenheim won the Southern division and were promoted to the Bundesliga.
In the following season, she changed her shirt number to 13. On 8 September 2013, she scored Hoffenheim's first-ever goal in the top flight in a 1–0 home victory against VfL Sindelfingen. In the second-last fixture of the season, Iwabuchi faced her future club Bayern Munich; she scored 2 goals and assisted one as Hoffenheim came back from two goals down to win 3–2 and secured their safety from relegation. She finished the 2013–14 season with six goals in 22 appearances in all competitions.
Bayern Munich.
In June 2014, Iwabuchi left Hoffenheim to join Bayern Munich. During the 2014–15 season, she scored 3 goals in her debut season and was part of a Bayern team that remained undefeated in the Bundesliga and won the title for the first time since 1976.
On 30 January 2016, she signed a two-year contract extension. She helped her team lift the Bundesliga title for a second season running, scoring the equaliser against her former club Hoffenheim in a 1–1 draw on the final day of the 2015–16 season.
In March 2017, however, she announced on her blog and to the media that despite one year left, she had mutually terminated her contract with the club to return to Japan to focus on her recovery from injury.
INAC Kobe Leonessa.
On 23 June 2017, Iwabuchi signed with INAC Kobe Leonessa. She had received offers from multiple clubs, and it came as a surprise to many that she decided to sign with Kobe Leonessa, as they are considered main rivals of NTV Beleza, the club she spent her youth at and played at until her move overseas to Germany. She revealed that she chose the club because they courted her most enthusiastically, and she wanted to play under manager Takeo Matsuda again. He was her coach at NTV Beleza when she was around 14 or 15 years old. Iwabuchi elaborated in a magazine interview, "At the time, I could barely keep up in training, but he would still play me in matches. But I remember feeling let down because I couldn't do much. That is why I wanted to come back and show him how much I've grown as a player, and I also wanted to learn football from him again."
On 9 September 2017, she made her return to the Nadeshiko League in Japan after five years away, coming on as a substitute against MyNavi Sendai Ladies. She then scored her first goal for the club in a 5–0 win over Okayama Yunogo Belle on 5 November 2017.
On 9 August 2020, she achieved the milestone of 100 appearances in the Nadeshiko League.
She was given the captain's armband in her final season with the club, where she featured 47 times and netted 11 goals.
Aston Villa.
Iwabuchi returned to Europe after she signed with Aston Villa in the FA Women's Super League on 21 December 2020 and joined them mid-season in January 2021. Her signing was described by sporting director Eni Aluko as a "statement signing" for the club, and a unique deal was constructed with CEO Christian Purslow to bring Iwabuchi to the club, ahead of many other top clubs in Europe who were interested in her. Iwabuchi herself said, "receiving an offer from a club that plays in what I personally consider to be the most attractive league in the world right now, I wanted to go there without any hesitation." She added, "I have faced the England national team as a player for Japan. Firstly, I could feel the high individual level of the players, the power and technique, and their completion as a team. Second, was the fact that they are the women's team of a club that plays in the Premier League. The environment is good, so that was another attractive point."
She registered her first goal and assist for the club on her first league start against Reading on 23 January 2021.
Instrumental to Aston Villa's season-long battle to survive relegation, Iwabuchi also secured victory (and their first home win of the season) against Tottenham Hotspur on 6 February 2021 by scoring the only goal of the game, a thunderous strike from 25-yards out. Her goal was among the nominees for FA Women's Super League 20/21 Goal of the Season.
Arsenal.
As her short-term contract with Villa expired at the end of June 2021, it was announced on 26 May 2021 that she would join Arsenal afterwards. The club had reportedly been trying to sign her since the summer of 2019, and again in the winter of 2020, but the move was blocked by the Japanese Football Association, who wanted her to stay in Japan till the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo had taken place.
She scored her first goal for the club on 18 August 2021 – her debut – versus Okzhetpes in the Champions League. In the next game against PSV, her second appearance for Arsenal, she scored twice. Her first goal in that match, a solo goal from a short corner, won the club's Goal of the Month poll for August in which fans vote to elect the best goal from the Men's, Women's and U-23 teams. With 64% of the votes, she became the third player from the women's team, following Kim Little and Vivianne Miedema, to win the award. In the WSL, she scored her first goal on behalf of Arsenal against her former team Villa, which Arsenal won 4–0 away on 2 October 2021.
On 14 June 2023, Arsenal confirmed that Iwabuchi will leave the club following the expiry of her contract.
Tottenham Hotspur (Loan).
Iwabuchi joined Arsenal's north London rival Tottenham Hotspur on loan until the end of the season in January 2023 after limited game-time with Arsenal. She made three appearances in the league. She made her debut for the club on 25 January 2023 in a 3–1 loss to Chelsea in the FA WSL Cup quarter-finals. She scored her first goal for the club in a win 5–0 over London City Lionesses in the FA Cup fourth round on 29 January 2023.
International career.
Youth.
Iwabuchi began her international career in 2008 when she was selected onto the Japan U-17 national team at the age of 15, and participated in the 2008 U-17 World Cup in New Zealand. The team was defeated in the quarterfinals but a series of outstanding performances saw Iwabuchi named winner of the adidas Golden Ball as the tournament's best player. It was the first time a Japanese player, male or female, had picked up the prestigious MVP award in a FIFA competition. A French team coach hailed her as a "future star of women's football."
Iwabuchi participated in the 2009 AFC U-19 Women's Championship where she led the Young Nadeshiko to their second crown at this level. Several decisive strikes, including a late winner in the final against Korea Republic, and the only goal of the semi-final against DPR Korea, saw her finish as the tournament's joint top scorer with four goals and recipient of the MVP award yet again.
As a result, Iwabuchi was awarded the Asian Young Footballer of the Year by the Asian Football Confederation in 2008 and 2009. Despite not yet having made an appearance for the senior national team, Iwabuchi was also nominated for the FIFA World Player of the Year award (which would later become the FIFA Ballon D'or) in 2009. She was the fourth Japanese player in history and first female player to be nominated for this award.
The Japanese team was not as successful at 2010 FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup in