The Samurai Blue are heading into the match on the back of a historic 2-1 win over Germany in their opening match of the tournament on Wednesday, while Costa Rica suffered a humiliating 7-0 defeat against Spain on the same day.
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Japan will be looking to build on their stunning victory over Germany when they continue their World Cup campaign in a Group E campaign against Costa Rica on Sunday. The Samurai Blue are heading into the match on the back of a historic 2-1 win over four-time champions Germany in their opening match of the tournament on Wednesday, while Costa Rica suffered a humiliating 7-0 defeat against Spain on the same day. Prior to the start of the tournament, not many would have predicted Japan to go through to the knockout stages from a group consisting of heavyweights Germany and Spain. However, the victory has put Hajime Moriyasu’s side in a very good position to earn qualification to the Round of 16.
🇯🇵 ━━━━━
𝐌𝐀𝐓𝐂𝐇 𝐃𝐀𝐘
━━━━━ 🇯🇵#SAMURAIBLUE
チーム一丸となって勝利を🔷🏆FIFA #ワールドカップ 第2節
⌚️19:00KO(🇯🇵)
🆚コスタリカ🇨🇷
📺#テレビ朝日/#ABEMA
🔗https://t.co/qYizrz7SO4#jfa #daihyo #サッカー日本代表#つな超え #新しい景色を2022#FIFAWorldCup pic.twitter.com/nBJo00dmpO— サッカー日本代表 🇯🇵 【11.17(木)】vs 🇨🇦【11.23(水)】vs 🇩🇪 (@jfa_samuraiblue) November 26, 2022
Japan’s opening game against Die Mannschaft was a game of two halves. The Opening period was clearly dominated by Germany and the Samurai Blue fell behind when Ilkay Gundogan scored from the penalty spot in the 33rd minute. However, after the break, Moriyasu’s two substitutes turned the game on its head. Ritsu Doan leveled the score in the 77th-minute before Takuma Asano netted the winner in the 83rd-minute after some brilliant individual play. Japan have reached the last-16 stage of the World Cup on three previous occasions, including back in 2018, when they finished second in Group H before losing to Belgium 3-2 in the first knockout round.
Costa Rica, on the other hand, are participating in their sixth World Cup finals and have managed to reach the quarter-finals in 2014, before losing out to Netherlands on penalties. However, this time around, Los Ticos made their worst start to the tournament, having conceded seven times without reply against a highly rated Spanish side. Ferran Torres scored a brace, while Dani Olmo, Marco Asensio, Gavi, Carlos Soler and Alvaro Morata netted one goal each for La Roja in Doha. It was an embarrassing night for Luis Fernando Suarez’s side at the Al Thumama Stadium on Wednesday.
Right- back Hiroki Sakai is doubtful for Sunday’s game, having picked up a knock against Germany in the last outing. Therefore Arsenal-man Takehiro Tomiyasu is expected to replace the 32-year-old in the playing eleven. Asano, who scored the winner against Germany, is likely to spearhead the attack, with the likes of Ito, Kamada and Kubo in support. As for Costa Rica, no injuries have been reported thus far, but head coach Suarez might be tempted to make some changes after being demolished by Spain. Kendall Waston could replace Carlos Martinez at the right-back position. Joel Campbell is expected to partner Contreras up front.
Japan probable starting lineup: Gonda, Tomiyasu, Itakura, Yoshida, Nagatomo, Endo, Tanaka, Ito, Kamada, Kubo, Asano
Costa Rica probable starting lineup: Navas, Watson, Calvo, Duarte, Oviedo, Tejeda, Borges, Bennett, Fuller, Campbell, Conteras
Japan
| Opponents | Score |
| Germany | 1-2 (W) |
| Canada | 1-2 (L) |
| Ecuador | 0-0 (D) |
| USA | 2-0 (W) |
| South Korea | 3-0 (W) |
Costa Rica
| Opponents | Score |
| Spain | 7-0 (W) |
| Nigeria | 2-0 (W) |
| Uzbekistan | 1-2 (W) |
| South Korea | 2-2 (D) |
| New Zealand | 1-0 (W) |
The FIFA World Cup match between Japan and Costa Rica will take place at Ahmed bin Ali stadium on Sunday at 3:30 pm IST.
| Japan vs Costa Rica | Key details |
| Date | November 27 |
| Venue | Ahmed bin Ali stadium |
| Kickoff time in Japan | 7:00 pm |
| Kickoff time in Costa Rica | 4:00 am |
The FIFA World Cup in Qatar can be seen on Sports18 – 1 SD & HD – in India. Sports 18 will be telecasting the games on the regular and HD Channels. Besides, Viacom18 Sports announced that JioCinema will live-stream all the World Cup games. Besides, the match between Japan and Costa Rica can be seen on Teletica network in Costa Rica; and Abema TV and TV Asahi In Japan.
