JAPAN vs COSTA RICA | FIFA WORLD CUP QATAR 27 Now 2022
About the match
Japan is going head to head with Costa Rica starting on 27 Nov 2022 at 10:00 UTC at Ahmed bin Ali Stadium stadium, Al Rayyan city, Qatar. The match is a part of the World Cup, Group E.
Japan fell behind against Germany on Wednesday, with Ilkay Gundogan scoring from the penalty spot in the 33rd minute, but two substitutes turned it around for Moriyasu’s team, with Ritsu Doan levelling the scores in the 75th minute before Takuma Asano won it with a brilliant finish in the 83rd minute.
Samurai Blue have now put themselves in a strong position to reach the next round of the competition, and they have previous when it comes to advancing through the group stage.
Indeed, Japan have progressed to the round of 16 on three previous occasions, including back in 2018, when they finished second in Group H before losing to Belgium in the first knockout round.
Moriyasu’s side will finish their campaign against Spain on December 1, so there is no downplaying the importance of this match, especially as Costa Rica will enter it off the back of a thumping loss to Spain.
Japan progressed to the finals of the 2022 World Cup by finishing second in Group B, picking up 22 points from their 10 matches, which left them one point behind the leaders Saudi Arabia in the Asian qualification section.
Costa Rica have faced Japan on five previous occasions in international football, with all five fixtures proving to be non-competitive games, and Japan have recorded four wins, including a 3-0 success in September 2018.
Los Ticos are competing in the finals of the World Cup for the third time in a row, and they incredibly reached the quarter-finals of the 2014 competition, topping Group D ahead of Uruguay, Italy and England before overcoming Greece on penalties in the first knockout round.
Costa Rica saw their tournament ended by the Netherlands in the last eight, but it was a brilliant performance from the Selection, who beat New Zealand in the intercontinental playoffs back in June to ensure that they would be present in the 2022 edition of the competition.
Luis Fernando Suarez’s side were the final team to advance to the World Cup, but they suffered a 7-0 defeat to Spain in their competition opener on Wednesday.
Ferran Torres scored twice, while Dani Olmo, Marco Asensio, Gavi, Carlos Soler and Alvaro Morata were all on the scoresheet for La Roja in Doha, with Costa Rica struggling against Luis Enrique’s side.
La Tricolor will take on Germany in their final match in the section on December 1, and it is difficult to imagine them making an impression in this group, but they will be determined to give their supporters something to cheer against Japan.
