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One of the shockers of this World Cup 2022, Japan will face their group opponent, Costa Rica in round two of the ongoing competition. The Samurai Blue sent shockwaves around the world when they defeated the 2014 World Champion Germany in the opening match of Group E. And they sure will bring that winning spirit to the already demotivated Costa Rica squad, who in their first match, faced a 7-0 humiliation at the hands of 2010 World Cup winner, Spain.

With a victory over Germany, Japan has put them in a strong position to progress past the group stage of the competition, and in the recent FIFA competitions, they have been regulars in the last 16. Worth remembering is they almost reached the quarterfinals at the 2018 FIFA World Cup when they took 2 goal lead against their then-knockout opponent, Belgium. The Asian sides however were eliminated when the European Red Devils canceled their lead by their own three.

Japan nevertheless – giving Belgium a definitively tough fight and their formidable performance against the Germans last Wednesday should certainly make them one of the favorites to run deep in this tournament. As for their clash against Costa Rica, the Central Americans look like a promising team to give them at least a point so that their advancement is almost guaranteed.

Also, Japan’s next and final opponent is mighty Spain, so there’s absolutely no suspicion that the Nihon Dahiyo will take Costa Rica lightly no matter how weak they are incoming or will be within the match, itself.

Japan Vs Costa Rica Predicted Lineups

Takuma Asano proved to be a super sub in Japan’s opening against Germany. The Vfl Bochum winger defeated not just any shot-stopper but Bayern Munich’s star goalkeeper, Manuel Never with what could be one of the top ten goals of the competition. Before Germany, Asano seemed less likely to start in the first eleven since he had played from minute one for the national side in only three of their last ten matches. But the 28-year-old might get his start in the game against Costa Rica.

The rest of the lineups for the Asian team is expected to remain the same except for Hiroki Saki who is doubtful because of the injury he picked up in a match against Germany. Subsequently, Arsenal’s Takehiro Tomiyasu could be seen from the first minute.

Costa Rica on the other hand has no injury concerns heading into this game. A slight possibility that we might see Waston instead of Martinez is nonetheless in the cards.

Japan Vs Costa Rica Forms

Japan was the group runner-up of the Asian qualifiers campaign behind Saudi Arabia. Heading to the ongoing tournament they had three losses in their last eleven matches versus five wins.

Costa Rica in recent times has somewhat diminished their historic form of the 2014 FIFA World Cup when it topped its group which had the presence of teams including Uruguay, England, and Italy. While their win numbers are great, they haven’t really come against the higher-ranked FIFA nations. In fact versus the likes of such teams, Costa Rica’s stats have only gone south. Additionally, with a 7-0 fresh defeat, the team’s spirit may not be at its best heading into the game against overly amped-up Japan.

Japan Vs Costa Rica Our Prediction

Japan has been averaging 2 to 3 goals since June 2022 against the likes of the teams that have well reputation in the FIFA ranking. As for Costa Rica, the Central American sides were barely threatening against Spain and while Japan doesn’t resemble the La Roja quality, their formidable attacking competence should be enough for them to find at least a remotely comfortable win against Costa Rica.

We, therefore, are going with an easy 3-0 win for the Asian side on this one. In fact, the two teams’ last meeting in Sep 2018 also ended with Japan winning the game by a score of 3-0.

Score Prediction: Japan 3-0 Costa Rica

Japan Vs Costa Rica Previous Meetings

Japan and Costa Rica have faced each other on five occasions but none of the meetings was in a competitive format. Nonetheless counting those matches, it is Japan who has the best of records as the Asian sides have been victorious on four occasions.

Japan Vs Costa Rica Prediction By Numbers

Japan is the clear and most favored elected to once again take the three points with the odds of 4/9 (1.44).  The likewise numeral of Costa Rica on the other hand hovers around 7/1 (8.00) while the game also has a possibility of ending in a draw at 10/3 (4.33).

Coming off the bench, Asano proved to be a promising converter for Japan and now that he has a good possibility to start, the odds of him becoming the first to score is being provided at 4/1 (5.00). The next probable man to be on the scoresheet is Asano’s teammate and Freiburg’s winger Ritsu Doan with a likeliness of 11/2 (6.50).

In the event that Costa Rica strikes first, it has been predicted to be Anthony Contreras on 11/1 (12.00).