Japan vs Spain odds and predictions: Who is the favorite in the World Cup 2022 game?

You can follow the live action of the game between Spain and Japan on As.com.

Though the 2010 world champions will be highly favored in this one, their opponents defeated the notoriously good Germans. That’s all to say that at the 2022 FIFA World Cup anything can happen.

Japan vs Spain: The lay of the land

On Wednesday afternoon, Spain and Japan will meet in their final match of Group E and with the top spot in the group on the line, we’re expecting it to be intense. Coming into the match, ‘La Roja’ lead the group with four points, while Japan and Costa Rica both sit on three. There’s also the ever-industrious Germans, who despite having one point are in with a chance if they can win their final game. Regarding their route up to this point, The Spaniards demolished Costa Rica 7-0 in their opening match, but had to settle for a frustrating 1-1 draw with Germany. The ‘Samurai Blue’ on the other hand stunned the world with an opening 2-1 win over the Germans and then somehow managed lose 1-0 to Costa Rica. Kickoff is set for 2 p.m. ET at Khalifa International Stadium in Doha, Qatar.

The Spanish look to close with win

While many likely expected the Spanish to defeat Costa Rica, few could have predicted the level of dominance that they displayed in their match against ‘Los Ticos.’ From Ferran Torres, Alvaro Morata and Marco Asensio, to the brilliant young talents of Pedri and Gavi, the Spanish posted a World Cup record in the form of 82% possession in across the game. For his part, Torres scored twice as demonstrated why FC Barcelona have invested so much in him. It’s worth noting that the Spanish were almost as dominant in possession against the Germans as well, with 65% of the ball, though the score line may have been closer. In truth, the Japanese will have a mountain to climb when they meet ‘La Roja.’

In terms of wider context, Spain are currently 7-3-1 since the start of 2022. Their only loss came against Switzerland, who they had actually defeated earlier in the Nations League. Indeed, Spain have taken some valuable scalps in that time including both Portugal and the Czech Republic. During their qualifying campaign, the Spaniards were 6-1-1 which was good enough to top the group with a 15-5 advantage in goals. To be clear, the Spanish are probably playing the best football in the tournament right now.

The Blue Samurai look to slay another giant

It may be puzzling when you consider the idea that Japan defeated Germany, only to lose to Costa Rica. Yet, it’s got to be said that the Blue Samurai are a counter attacking team through and through. That’s to say, an opponent like Costa Rica who plays a similar game, wasn’t ideal. This of course brings us to Spain, a possession heavy team which is most comfortable when it can have the ball for long periods of time. That, will likely suit Japan just fine. Consider for a moment, that they had the ball for just 26% of the match, but Takuma Asano and Ritsu Doan scored late stunners to complete shocking victory against the Germans. To date, Asano has eight international goals to his name across 29 games.

This is a team that is both tireless and technical in the way they play the game. Midfielder Daichi Kamada - a relentless worker - has 12 goals in 20 matches in all competitions for Eintracht Frankfurt in Germany and has six goals in 24 international matches. As a team, Japan won all eight games in second-round AFC qualifying, with an unreal 46-2 goal difference. They went 7-1-2 in the third round to qualify. While it’s true that they are about to play against a former champion and realistically a top 5 team in the world, Japan have been here before and were in the Round of 16 as recently as 2018 in Russia. Indeed, on that occasion they played an outstanding game against Belgium and were leading 2-0 until what can only be considered naive mistakes condemned them to a 3-2 defeat. That’s all to say, these guys can play and will have no reason to fear when kickoff comes.

Japan vs Spain: The Odds

Japan vs Spain: The Prediction

Though we suspect Japan may keep this affair closer than many expect, it’s hard to see anything other than a loss for the Blue Samurai when the final whistle goes. To be clear, Japan only need a draw to see themselves through to the Round of 16, but even that will likely prove to be out of reach against the Spanish. We’re predicting a 2-1 score in Spain’s favor.