Mundial: Japan-Spain: Qualification hopes and first place

Japan and Spain square off for the 3rd and final matchday of group 5 of the World Cup.

A match where the two teams are looking for the result that will send them to the next phase. Japan are sure to qualify with a win, while with a draw, they will wait to see the result of Costa-Rica Germany. With defeat, he is permanently left out. On the contrary, Spain, even with a defeat, seems very difficult to stay out since Costa Rica will have to beat Germany in order to stay third or Germany to win by a margin of 7-8 goals! With a victory it comes out first, with a draw it will wait to see the result of Costa Rica-Germany to know where to finish, since with a draw it will be first, with a victory of Germany again first while with a victory of Costa Rica it will be second.

On the pitch, Japan came from a 1-0 loss to Costa Rica in a match that was superior but paid for a laxity in their defence. At the same time, she missed the chance to get the victory that would have already sent her to the "16". Midfielder Edo and right-back Sakai are highly doubtful, while defender Tomiyasu is at Moriyasu's disposal.

Spain, for their part, were 65 minutes superior to the Germans, but were then unable to hold on to their lead and lock up qualification. Of course, it is now a breath away from the next phase, since it seems extremely difficult or unlikely to be left out. Gavi, Rodri have annoyances, but it looks like they will compete, while there are thoughts not to start Busquets as he has one yellow and in the next he will miss the first knockout match.

Where will it be judged

As long as Spain enters the match with the intention of clearing it from the beginning, as it did against Costa Rica and does not... chatter like against Germany, then he'll probably get it and rather easily, doing power maintenance afterwards in the run-up to the knockout matches.

Player-Barometer

Danny Olmo has shown in the first two matches that he is one of the main exponents of Spain's attacks. Against a tight defense like Japan's, his team will need their sidelines, bouts and finals to break it down and make their task easier.

The duel

Tanaka vs. Pedri. Japan's 24-year-old midfielder will have a tough opponent with plenty of runs, with spain's talented midfielder being... all the money for his team in the first two games. He will be asked to restrict him so that Japan can cut the traffic and the creation of the Iberians, so that he can stay in the match as long as he can.

Tradition

A friendly has been played by both teams in 2001, with Spain beating Japan 1-0 with a goal by Baraha in the 89th minute!

Assessment

Clearly superior as a whole but also as units, looking separately, Spain. Against them she has a team that is well structured, well set up on the field and with a lot of runs, but the "furious rocha" knows how to clean up games with inferior opponents and it seems that she can do it in this as well, passing the group as the first.

Possible compositions:

Japan (Jaime Moriyasu/ 4-2-3-1): Gonda – Yamane, Itakura, Yoshida, Nagatomo – Morita, Tanaka – Doan, Kamada, Ito – Asano.

Spain (Luis Enrique): Simón – Carvajal, Pau Torres, Laporte, Alba – Coque, Pedri, Soler – Ferran Torres, Morata, Olmo.

Referee: Victor Gomes (South Africa)

Stadium: Khalifa International Stadium, Al Rayyan (45,857)

Matchday 1

Spain-Costa Rica 7-0Germany-Japan 1-2

Matchday 2

Japan-Costa Rica 0-1Spain-Germany 1-1

Matchday 3

21:00 Japan – Spain21:00 Costa Rica – Germany

The rating:

Spain 4 (8-1)Japan 3 (2-2)Costa Rica 3 (1-7)Germany 1 (2-3)

Source: Super Sport Fm