Manchester City’s goalkeeper made four appearances at the tournament, helping Japan triumph after a hard-fought 1-0 win in the final over hosts, Australia.
The 30-year-old played the full 90 minutes of the showpiece success, helping her nation to a precious, clean sheet over the Matildas.
Nadeshiko were early favourites ahead of the competition, and they delivered on their backing by scoring 17 goals and conceding none across their three group matches.
Yamashita played in the opening 2-0 success over Chinese Taipei alongside City teammates Yui Hasegawa, Aoba Fujino and Risa Shimizu.
The Blues’ goalkeeper then played their final Group C assignment – a 4-0 win over Vietnam with Fujino netting the third of the evening.
After missing the quarter-final victory over the Philippines, she was back in net for the impressive 4-1 semi-final win over South Korea which set up the mouth-watering final with Australia.
And after Maika Hamano opened the scoring in front of just over 74,000 spectators at Stadium Australia, Yamashita made a string of impressive saves to preserve Japan’s lead.
This included a fine catch from the tournament’s Most Valuable Player and former City defender, Alanna Kennedy’s, attempt in the latter stages of the showpiece.
After being a member of the Japan squad who won the Asian Cup in 2018, the tournament triumph was Yamashita’s second in the competition.
Many congratulations to Ayaka on being named the Best Goalkeeper award at the 2026 Asian Cup!
