Japan pulled out of February's SheBelieves Cup women's international soccer tournament in the United States, citing the coronavirus situation at home, U.S. Soccer said Thursday.
Japan, ranked 10th in the world, were to face the top-ranked United States as well as Brazil and Canada in the Feb. 18-24 tournament in Florida but have been replaced by Argentina.
Japan lost to Spain, England and the United States at the same tournament last March and have not played since due to the pandemic.
"We'll be losing valuable match experience but all the teams around the world are facing the same difficult situation," Japan manager Asako Takakura said Friday on the Japan Football Association website.
"We'll do our best under the circumstances we're in and continue our thorough preparation for the Tokyo Olympics."
Japan were to hold a training camp in Chiba from Feb. 11 but that has also been canceled.
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