Japan produced the second major shock of this FIFA World Cup as they secured a stunning come-from-behind 2-1 win against four-time Champions Germany. Manager Hajime Moriyasu produced a tactical masterstroke, bringing Takuma Asano and Kaoru Mitoma off the bench in the second half to transform his side’s fortunes, and he stated post-match that the victory illustrated what his side is capable of in this tournament.
The Samurai Blues are now looking to secure successive World Cup wins for the first time since 2002. If they achieve that and Germany fail to beat Spain, then Japan would also secure back-to-back progression into the knockout stages of a World Cup finals for the very first time, that’s a truly remarkable achievement given they were placed in one of the toughest groups in the competition.
Costa Rica could be perfect opponents then after they were on the receiving end of a 7-0 hiding at the hands of Spain in their opening clash. Rather unsurprisingly, that was comfortably their heaviest defeat ever at the World Cup finals and is likely to have destroyed morale in the Ticos’ camp. An awful goal difference now makes their already tough task to qualify even harder and it’s now imperative they get a positive result from this crucial meeting with Japan.
This is a fixture that Costa Rica have never really thrived in though, failing to win any of the four H2H meetings (D1, L3) while conceding three goals in all of those losses. Another defeat here would pretty much seal Costa Rica’s second consecutive group stage elimination with a whimper as that incredible run to the quarter-finals in 2014 is fast becoming but a distant memory.
Players to watch: Japan’s Takuma Asano staked his claim for a place in the starting XI, coming off the bench to score the winner on his World Cup debut against Germany. Looking to inspire a dejected Costa Rica side may well be Joel Campbell. He assisted a goal in his last appearance against Japan back in 2014, and has only lost one game when scoring for his nation (W18, D5, L1).
Hot stat: Costa Rica haven’t conceded two or more goals in back-to-back games since June 2021.
World Cup trivia: Costa Rica’s 7-0 defeat to Spain is the biggest margin of defeat at the World Cup since Portugal beat North Korea by the same scoreline in 2010.
