The Samurai Blue are the most successful team in the history of the competition, having won the title on four occasions, while the Golden Star Warriors finished fourth in 1956 and 1960.
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Pre-tournament favourites Japan will kickoff their AFC Asian Cup 2023 campaign with a league fixture against Vietnam at Al Thumama Stadium on Sunday. This clash will be the opening encounter of Group D, which also includes Indonesia and Iraq, who will square off at the Ahmad bin Ali Stadium on Monday afternoon. The Samurai Blue are the most successful team in the history of the competition, having won the title on four occasions, while the Golden Star Warriors finished fourth in 1956 and 1960.
🔹𝗦𝗔𝗠𝗨𝗥𝗔𝗜 𝗕𝗟𝗨𝗘🔹
【2024.1.12 練習後コメント✍️】18 MF/FW #浅野拓磨
🏆AFC アジアカップ カタール 2023
⚔️グループステージ第1節
🗓1.14(日) ⌚️20:30(🇯🇵)
🆚ベトナム代表🇻🇳
🏟️Al Thumama Stadium(カタール)
📺#DAZN
🔗https://t.co/Tlg2676KCA#頂点そしてその先へ#夢への勇気を… pic.twitter.com/mbaKlSkZpQ— サッカー日本代表 🇯🇵 (@jfa_samuraiblue) January 13, 2024
Japan (17th) are the highest ranked team in the competition according to FIFA, and they have been brilliant in the last couple of years, reaching the round of 16 stage of the 2022 World Cup courtesy of defeating Germany and Spain in the group stage, while also securing a 4-1 success over DFB-Team in a friendly in September last year. The Samirai Blue were phenomenal in 2023, losing only one of their ten fixtures in that calendar year, while recording seven successive wins in the process. Hajime Moriyasu’s side carried that momentum into 2024 securing back-to-back victories over Thailand and Jordan with a combined scoreline of 11-1. Japan have now won their last nine in all competitions.
Vietnam, on the other hand, have certainly been one of the most improved team in the AFC in the last couple of years. The Golden Star Warriors reached the third round qualifiers of the FIFA World Cup 2022 and also advanced to the quarter-finals of the 2019 AFC Asian Cup, where they were beaten1-0 by Sunday’s opponents. Meanwhile Philippe Trousier’s side are heading into the tournament on the back of not so great results, losing five of their last six outings in all competitions. Their last success came against Philippines in the 2026 World Cup qualifying in November. Vietnam’s last game ended in a 2-1 friendly-defeat to kyrgyzstan last week.
Japan probable starting lineup: Maekawa, Tomiyasu, Machida, Sugawara, H Ito, Endo, Morita, J Ito, Kubo, Asano, Ueda
Vietnam probable starting lineup: Trieu, Thanh, Binh, Phan, Anh, Trong, Thanh, Nguyen, Toan, Linh, Pham
Japan
| Opponents | Score |
| Jordan | 6-1 (W) |
| Thailand | 5-0 (W) |
| Syria | 0-5 (W) |
| Myanmar | 5-0 (W) |
| Tunisia | 2-0 (W) |
Vietnam
| Opponents | Score |
| Kyrgyzstan | 2-1 (L) |
| Iraq | 0-1 (L) |
| Philippines | 0-2 (W) |
| South Korea | 6-0 (W) |
| Uzbekistan | 0-2 (L) |
| Last 5 match-results | Score |
| Japan draw Vietnam | 1-1 |
| Japan beat Vietnam | 0-1 |
| Japan beat Vietnam | 0-1 |
| Japan beat Vietnam | 1-0 |
| Japan beat Vietnam | 1-4 |
The AFC Asian Cup fixture between Japan and Vietnam will take place at Al Thumama Stadium on Sunday at 5:00 pm IST.
| Japan vs Vietnam | Key Details |
| Date | January 14 |
| Venue | Al Thumama Stadium |
| Kickoff time in Japan | 8:30 pm |
| Kickoff time in Vietnam | 6:30 pm |
| Kickoff time in Qatar | 2:30 pm |
| Kickoff time in India | 5:00 pm |
The live telecast of the AFC Asian Cup matches in India will be available on Sports 18 network. Besides, football fans in India can also live stream the game through Jio Cinema. Meanwhile, those in Japan can catch the live action via TV Asahi and DAZN Japan. Football fans in Vietnam can watch the fixture on FPT Play and VTV network.
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