2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup: Japan Vs Costa Rica Preview
Written by Oluwaseun Oyediji
2011 FIFA Women’s World Cup winners, Japan will hope to brighten its chances of making it to the Round of 16 when it faces Costa Rica as the second games in Group C get underway on Wednesday.
Japan
Japan could scarcely have imagined making a better start to their FIFA Women’s World Cup (WWC) group-stage campaign, as they thrashed tournament novices Zambia 5-0.
That battering of Zambia certainly caught the eye in the opening round of group games, and Futoshi Ikeda’s side will be looking to continue their excellent start to the tournament by picking up three points against Costa Rica.
Victory here seems imperative to avoid losing ground as Japan looks set to battle it out with Spain for Group C’s top spot on 31 July as the pair meet in their group stage finale.
And given Japan has never beaten Spain in their brief H2H history, there’s seemingly added emphasis on Futoshi Ikeda’s side finding a third successive victory here, and with the last two coming via a 5-0 scoreline, don’t rule out Japan doing so in style.
Form
The Nadeshiko’s form is something to desire ahead of this match-up.
It has won four of its last five games against Canada (3-0), Portugal (2-1), and Panama (5-0) before thrashing Zambia 5-0 in its 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup opener.
The only game the Asian side has lost was a 1-0 loss to European side, Denmark in an international friendly match on April 11, 2023.
Player to watch
Mina Tanaka is Japan’s leading attacking threat with 25 international career goals and she has five goal involvements in her last three matches for her country (two goals and three assists).
Costa Rica
This is just the second time that Japan has ever faced Costa Rica, who themselves are still looking for their first-ever win at WWC finals after being beaten 3-0 by Spain in their Group C curtain-raiser, with all three Spanish goals coming in the space of six first-half minutes.
However, things could have been a lot worse for Costa Rica were it not for the performance of Daniela Solera, who saved a penalty to prevent the score from becoming even more humiliating.
Solera’s nine saves in the first round of matches was the second highest behind Haiti’s Kerly Théus (ten), and Las Ticas will likely again need her to be on top form if they’re to avoid a potential early exit in Dunedin.
Costa Rica will know they realistically need a victory to avoid crashing out at the first hurdle, but the chances of that seem scarce for a side who have lost seven of their last eight internationals.
Read Also – Top 10 All-Time Moments Of FIFA Women’s World Cup
Form
Costa is not in a good vein of form ahead of this game with four losses out of its last five games.
Venezuela (4-0), Centro Caribe (2-1), South Africa (2-0), and Spain (3-0) in the opening match of its World Cup campaign were Costa Rica’s nemesis.
The team’s solitary win came with a 2-0 triumph over World Cup debutant, Haiti during the Central America and Caribbean Games on July 3.
Players to watch
If anyone is to get on the scoresheet for Costa Rica, it wouldn’t be a surprise if it was Raquel Rodríguez given that she is their all-time record scorer with 55 goals. She also interestingly netted their first-ever WWC goal eight years ago.
Hot stat
Only one of Japan’s last 12 internationals has seen both teams score.
Head-to-head
This will be the first time that both sides will be meeting at the senior women’s football national team level.
Verdict
Barring any form of upset, expect a win for Japan over Costa Rica but not with a wide margin.
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