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A Descriptive Analysis of Goal-Scoring Time Patterns in the WE League [Received April 3, 2026; Accepted September 16, 2026] This study examined goal-scoring time patterns in the WE League, Japan's first women's professional football league, using all 484 league matches from the 2021-22 to the 2024-25 seasons. Goal-timing and total-goal data were obtained from the official WE League data website. Goals scored in regular time were classified into six 15-min periods (1-15, 16-30, 31-45, 46-60, 61-75, and 76-90 min), and first- and second-half additional-time goals were tabulated separately. Across the four seasons, 1,212 goals were scored (2.50 per match), of which 1,135 were scored in regular time and 77 (6.4%) in additional time (23 in first-half and 54 in second-half additional time). Among the regular-time intervals, the highest number was observed in the 76-90 min period (224 goals, 18.5%) and the lowest in the 16-30 min period (142 goals, 11.7%); 535 goals (44.1%) were scored in the first half and 677 (55.9%) in the second half, with additional time included in each half. A chi-square goodness-of-fit test indicated that regular-time goals were not uniformly distributed across the six periods (χ2(5) = 22.27, p < .001, Cohen's w = 0.14), whereas the season-by-period distribution did not differ significantly (χ2(15) = 13.91, p = .532, Cramér's V = 0.06). These findings provide basic descriptive evidence for game analysis in women's professional football in Japan. Keywords: goal-scoring time, womenʼs football, game analysis, match analysis, WE League |