The Japan national team match against the Spain in the 3rd week of the 2022 World Cup group E phase, Thursday, December 01, 2022 will be held at the Khalifa International Stadium (Ar-Rayyan) Stadium. The position of the two teams is not safe to qualify for the round of 16. Spain must be careful because it is very possible for Japan to imitate the match tactics when they beat Germany in the first round.
Due to the failure of Hajime Moriyasu’s tactics, Japan lost 0-1 in the last round against Costa Rica. Even though the Blue Samurai Team appeared mighty when they beat Germany with a score of 1-2 through goals from Ritsu Doan in 75 minutes, and Takuma Asano in 83 minutes.
The defeat to Costa Rica was really regrettable because Japan had played very well throughout the match, and had to concede a goal in the 81st minute by Keysher Fuller. However, Japan still has a chance to qualify for the round of 16.
Currently Japan is ranked 2nd in Group E standings with 3 points. They are only 1 point away from Spain who top the standings with 4 points. To ensure themselves qualify for the knockout stages, Japan must win over Spain.
But in terms of technical strength, Spain is still stronger than Japan. However, because of the characteristics of this World Cup, teams that are considered strong cannot be 100% confident that they can win against weak teams. One example, Germany lost to Japan, Argentina lost to Saudi Arabia, etc.
The Matador squad is currently mostly filled with young players who are very talented and have played at the main level in five European leagues. As the pioneer of modern pass-and-control football “the bullfighter never dies”.
After winning the 2010 World Cup, Spain started their journey towards winning the 2022 World Cup. Coach Luis Enrique returned to train the Matador Legion in 2019. The former Barcelona coach managed to lead the Spanish team to the top 4 of the European Cup, 6 wins, 1 draw and 1 defeat in the preliminary round of World Cup qualification, and the first winner of Group B advanced to the World Cup finals Qatar.
A 7-0 win over Costa Rica in the first round made Spain’s spirits rise sharply, even though in the second round they only shared points with Germany. As long as the Spanish team can perform at a normal level, the problem with winning shouldn’t be too big against Japan.
So, who do you think will win? Japan or Spain? Don’t miss watching this match which will kick-off starting at 22:00 local time. The following is related information about the Japan vs. Spain match:
How to Stream Japan vs. Spain
The Japan vs Spain match will be broadcast by television stations Fox, FS1, Telemundo, Universo. The duel at the Khalifa International Stadium (Ar-Rayyan) Stadium can also be watched via live streaming at 14:00 EDT.
Kick-off Schedule & Live Streaming Links
| Official TV | Fox, FS1, Telemundo, Universo |
| Date | Thursday, December 01, 2022 |
| Kickoff | 14:00 EDT |
| Live TV | Fox, FS1, Telemundo, Universo, TV-Bola |
Japan – Spain Head-to-Head Record
- 04/26/2001 Spain vs Japan 1 – 0
Last 5 Match Performance
Japan
- 09/23/2022 Japan vs United States 2 – 0
- 09/27/2022 Japan vs Ecuador 0 – 0
- 11/17/2022 Japan vs Canada 1 – 2
- 11/23/2022 Germany vs Japan 1 – 2
- 11/27/2022 Japan vs Costa Rica 0 – 1
Spain
- 09/25/2022 Spain vs Switzerland 1 – 2
- 09/28/2022 Portugal vs Spain 0 – 1
- 11/17/2022 Jordan vs Spain 1 – 3
- 11/23/2022 Spain vs Costa Rica 7 – 0
- 11/28/2022 Spain vs Germany 1 – 1
Japan vs. Spain Squad Predictions
Japan (4-2-3-1): Gonda; Yamane, Itakura, Yoshida, Nagatomo, Tanaka, Morita, Doan, Kamada, Kubo, Maeda.
Spain (4-3-3): Simon; Carvajal, P. Torres, Laporte, Alba, Koke, Rodri, Pedri, F. Torres, Alvaro Morata, Olmo.
