Japan and Costa Rica will face off against each other at the Ahmed bin Ali Stadium on Sunday.
Japan will be euphoric after they registered a come-from-behind win over European powerhouse and four-time champions Germany in their tournament opener.
İlkay Gündoğan’s first-half penalty had given Germany command over Japan. But Ritsu Doan’s 75th-minute goal followed by Takuma Asano’s goal eight minutes later ensured that Japan registered a shock win over the 2014 champions.
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Costa Rica was thrashed 7-0 by Spain on matchday one and will be looking to bounce back hhere
Kick-off: 3:30 PM (IST), 10:00 AM (GMT)
Venue – Ahmed Bin Ali Stadium
Team news
Hajime Moriyasu made full use of the Japan squad(opens in new tab) against Germany, with his attack-minded substitutions turning the game in his team’s favour.
Japan also is sweating on the fitness of Hiroki Sakai after he missed training following the famous victory. Arsenal’s Takehiro Tomiyasu would come in at right-back if Sakai is not fit
The Costa Rica squad(opens in new tab) contains plenty of experience but they were flat against Spain, so Luis Fernando Suarez could require some changes.
Predicted lineups
Japan
Gonda; Itakura, Yoshida, Tomiyasu; Sakai, Endo, Tanaka, Nagatomo; J Ito, Asano, Kamada
Costa Rica
Navas; Fuller, Duarte, Waston, Calvo, Oviedo; Campbell, Tejeda, Aguilera, Zamora; Contreras.
Odds/prediction
Costa Rica’s heavy defeat to Spain means they have been given just a 13.4% chance of winning this game by Opta.
The likelihood of a Japan victory is rated at 66.6%, with a 20% chance of a draw.
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