Japan are aiming to try and get themselves into the knockout stages of the World Cup when they meet with Costa Rica in Group E after a magical victory over Germany in their first game just as Costa Rica look to bounce back from a stunning loss to Spain.
A victory for Japan would also likely see them into the next round of the Qatar 2022 World Cup as they would be on six points and six ahead of Costa Rica and ahead of Germany.
🇯🇵 📸 @doan_ritsu, man of the hour.— FIFA World Cup (@FIFAWorldCup) November 23, 2022
🇯🇵 📸 @doan_ritsu, man of the hour.
However, to be absolutely certain of their own knockout status at the World Cup, they must also hope that Germany beat Spain which would mean both Spain and Japan would be on six points and heading straight through to the knockout stages.
Japan saw themselves go 1-0 down against Germany in the last game and in the first half, it did look as if it could be a tough game for them to deal with when Ilkay Gundogan netted a penalty in the first 45.
However, a magical second half display from Japan saw them net two goals inside seven minutes towards the end of the half as they stole victory from the jaws of defeat in one of the all-time great comeback wins at the group stages.
It was Bundesliga star, Ritsu Doan, who scored the equaliser from close range after Germany failed to deal with the loose ball.
The headlines were stolen by another Bundesliga player, Takuma Asano, after a sensational solo goal saw him take the ball from out of the air to smash in an effort past Manuel Neuer in what is one of the best solo goals at this tournament already.
As for Costa Rica, their defeat to Spain was one of the worst performances at a World Cup group stage where they were battered from pillar to post throughout the 90 minutes.
In fact, Spain managed to see six different goalscorers get on the scoresheet from the 7-0 demolition and Costa Rica saw just 18% of the ball.
In truth, it could have been a much higher scoreline despite it being 7-0, and there is now very little hope of Costa Rica getting anything out of this game and managing to put together a test for Japan to deal with.
Forebet predicts a draw here and for the game to see over 2.5 goals as Group E begins to really heat up.