Japanese footballer (born 2002)
Ran Iwai (岩井蘭, Iwai Ran, born 29 March 2002) is a Japanese footballer who plays as a midfielder. She played collegiately for the Florida State Seminoles, where she won two national championships (2021, 2023) and five ACC championships. She represented Japan internationally at the under-17 level.
Early life
Iwai was born in Tokyo, the daughter of Ayako and Ayumu Iwai.[1][2] Her father is the head coach of the Japan's men's national flag football team.[1] She has a younger brother, Ray, who plays tackle football at New Mexico.[3] Before taking up association football, Iwai played flag football and won an under-12 national championship in 2013.[1][3] She also ran track at that age and anchored the winning team in a national 4 × 100 meter relay championship.[1]
Iwai joined JFA Academy Fukushima [ja] for association football in 2014, where she scored 177 goals over six years.[1][4] She helped win the JFA under-15 national championship in 2016 and youth club championship in 2018.[1] She trained overseas one summer at a camp at Florida State University and was offered a scholarship to play there.[2] She learned English growing up.[3]
College career
Iwai spent her first two years of college playing off the bench for the Florida State Seminoles. She scored one goal in her freshman year in 2020–21, and she appeared in the national championship game, in which the Seminoles lost to Santa Clara in a penalty shoot-out.[1][5] She recorded two goals and two assists as a sophomore in 2021. She made her second start that year in the NCAA tournament semifinals against Rutgers, helping Florida State advance 1–0, before her team won the national title over BYU on penalties.[1][6][7] Iwai started every game as a junior in 2022, forming part of a solid defense that kept 11 clean sheets in 23 games. She scored her only goal of the season to take the lead on LSU in the second round of the NCAA tournament, where Florida State's season ended against North Carolina in the semifinals.[1][8]
Iwai started every game of Florida State's undefeated national championship season as a senior in 2023.[1] In October, she was named the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) Defensive Player of the Week when she contributed three assists in two shutout wins over Louisville and Boston College.[9] She won the ACC tournament for her fourth year in a row that season.[10] She recorded a career-high eight assists and was part of 14 clean sheets in 23 games, including every round but the final of the NCAA tournament, which they won 5–1 over Stanford.[1][11] She matched her career-high eight assists in the 2024 season as she won her fifth ACC championship in five years with the Seminoles.[1][12]
International career
Iwai was selected to the Japan youth national team for the 2017 AFC U-16 Women's Championship, where they came in third place.[1] She was designated as captain of the national under-17 team for an international friendly against France, in which she scored the only goal in a 1–0 win.[1] She made the roster for the 2018 FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup and appeared as a substitute in a 6–0 victory over South Africa in the group stage.[13]
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