Japan into Asian Cup semis with Philippines thrashing

Mina Tanaka and Toko Koga scored for Japan just before the halftime break in Sunday's quarter-final as the side secured qualification for next year's World Cup in Brazil with a win in front of 13,321 fans.

Koga grabbed her second goal in the second half as Remina Chiba, Manaka Matsukubo, Momoko Tanikawa and Riko Ueki also added to the Filipinas' misery to tee up a semi-final clash with rivals South Korea in Sydney on Wednesday.

Japan have scored 24 goals through their first four games and are the only side yet to concede at this year's tournament.

Their dominance was on full display as Nils Nielsen's outfit enjoyed 85 per cent of possession and had 16 shots on target to the Philippines' zero. 

The Phillipines' hopes of reaching the World Cup remain alive and will hinge on the result of Thursday's play-off against Uzbekistan on the Gold Coast.

But from the first minute on Sunday, Japan's star-studded side were completely in control and had the Philippines camped back in their own penalty box.

Try as they might, the Japanese could not crack a resolute Filipino defence that opted to bench first-choice left-back Angie Beard and No.1 goalkeeper Olivia McDaniel with an eye on the Uzbekistan play-off. 

Nina Meollo was handed the gloves instead and did well to repel goal-bound efforts from Hinata Miyazawa and Yui Hasegawa.

As halftime beckoned the Phillipines' resistance eventually cracked when they failed to deal with two Japanese corners in quick succession. 

The first came courtesy of Tanaka, who headed over the line following a chaotic goal-mouth scramble, before Koga rose high at the front post and glanced another past Meollo.

Chiba and Matsukubo further extended Japan's lead in a 120-second double salvo just after the hour mark. 

Koga added her second from a set-piece, before close-range goals from Tanikawa and Ueki completed the rout.