Momoko Tanikawa (谷川 萌々子, Momoko Tanikawa, born 7 May 2005) is a Japanese professional footballer playing as a midfielder for Frauen-Bundesliga club Bayern Munich and the Japan national team.
Tanikawa begun her career with the Japanese national team youth setup, JFA Academy Fukushima, before transferring to Europe. She has won the Damallsvenskan league title with FC Rosengård in 2024 while on loan at the club.
A full international since 2023, Tanikawa won the 2022 Asian Games women's football tournament and the 2023 Toulon Tournament with Japan, having reached the quarter-finals of the 2022 FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup with the national team, scoring in every game.
Club career
Early career
From 2018 until 2023, Tanikawa played in Fukushima for the U18 team in the JFA Academy, the youth program of the Japan Football Association.
Bayern Munich
2024: Loan to FC Rosengård
On 11 January 2024, it was announced that Tanikawa had sign with Frauen-Bundesliga club Bayern Munich. She was immediately sent on loan to Damallsvenskan club FC Rosengård for the 2024 season. She quickly established herself as a key figure in the team as the team went on to win the league title in dominant fashion, which includes a 23 games league winning streak and losing only once. She would end the season as the team and league's top scorer with 16 goals, and won the league's best breakthrough and best midfielder of season award. She return to Bayern Munich at the conclusion of the season.
2025–Present: Return to first team
Tanikawa rejoined Bayern Munich following the conclusion of the Damallsvenskan season. She made her league debut for the team in a 3–1 league win against Hoffenheim as a 90th minute substitute on 9 February 2025. She scored her first goal for the club in a 4–1 DFB-Pokal extra-time win against Eintracht Frankfurt on 13 February 2025, where she also contributed an assist.
International career
Youth
Tanikawa made her international debut in 2022. She made her debut for the U17 national team on 3 October in a 2-1 friendly loss against the United States U17 national team. With the youth national team of this age group, she also took part in the World Cup held in India from 11 to 30 October 2022, playing in all Group D matches and scoring a goal in each game. She also scored a goal in the 2-1 quarter-final loss to the U17 national team of Spain.
With the U19 national team, she took part in the Sud Ladies Cup competition as part of the Toulon Tournament from 16 to 21 May 2023, scoring four goals in three matches.
Senior
She made her senior national team debut on 14 July 2023 in a 5-0 friendly win against the Panama national team.
Tanikawa went on to win the 2022 Asian Games women's football tournament in Hangzhou, China in October 2023, scoring in a 4-1 final win over North Korea.
On 14 June 2024, Tanikawa was included in the Japan squad for the 2024 Summer Olympics.
Tanikawa was part of the Japan squad that won the 2025 SheBelieves Cup.
Career statistics
Club
- As of match played 9 March 2025
International
- As of match played 23 February 2025
- Scores and results list Japan's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Tanikawa goal.
Honours
FC Rosengård
- Damallsvenskan: 2024
Japan U19
- Sud Ladies Cup winners: 2023
Japan
- Asian Games: 2022
- SheBelieves Cup: 2025
Individual
- FIFA U17 Women's World Cup top scorer: 2022
- Damallsvenskan's Best Midfielder: 2024
- Damallsvenskan's Top scorer: 2024
- Damallsvenskan's Breakthrough of the Year: 2024
- Damallsvenskan's Player of the Month: April 2024
References
External links
- Profile at the FC Bayern Munich website
- Momoko Tanikawa at Soccerway.com
- Momoko Tanikawa at WorldFootball.net
- Momoko Tanikawa at Soccerbase.com
- Momoko Tanikawa at kicker (in German)
- Momoko Tanikawa at FBref.com
- Momoko Tanikawa at ESPN FC
- Momoko Tanikawa at the Swedish Football Association (in Swedish)
- Momoko Tanikawa at jfa.jp
