On Tuesday, Saudi Arabia plays Japan at Saitama Stadium in the Land of the Rising Sun for the right to enter World Cup 2022 with kickoff at 1:10 pm.
The Green Falcons of Saudi Arabia are unbeaten in World Cup qualification thus far and lead the Samurai Blue of Japan by four points, having won their last four fixtures, following a 1-0 defeat to the Saudis in October.
Japan roared into their Asian Cup qualifying campaign with a thumping 2-0 win over China on Thursday, as Hajime Moriyasu’s men kept their third successive clean sheet in style.
Moriyasu learned a hard lesson at the previous World Cup about the consequences of being complacent. The man who served as an assistant to Akira Nishino in 2018 saw his side squander a 2-0 second-half advantage in Belgium and fall behind. Nacer Chadli scored with a last-gasp winner.
Saudi Arabia has advanced to the next qualifying stage for the World Cup and has advanced further than Japan.
Saudi Arabia has won 12 of their 15 qualification fixtures in this round, with the other three results being draws against Palestine (0-0), Yemen (2-2), and most recently Australia (0-0).
Manager Herve Renard has a lovely luxury that his Japanese counterpart cannot boast, as all Saudi team members play domestically in Saudi Arabia.
Japan vs. Saudi Arabia Head to Head
Both sides have 7 games against each other, with hosts taking 3 wins while opponents with 4 wins. Here is a look at their previous encounters:
Home
- Japan 2-0 China
- Oman 0-1 Japan
- Vietnam 0-1 Japan
- Japan 2-1 Australia
- Saudi Arabia 1-0 Japan
Away
- Saudi Arabia 1-0 Oman
- Morocco 1-0 Saudi Arabia
- Palestine 1-1 Saudi Arabia
- Saudi Arabia 0-1 Jordan
- Vietnam 0-1 Saudi Arabia
Japan Team News
Junya Ito of Genk leads the Samurai Warriors with three goals in this qualification round, scoring once in each of their previous three fixtures. Yuya Osako of this team has scored 10 times overall, one more than Takumi Minamino of Liverpool and one fewer than Kazushi Kimura for seventh all-time in the history of the Samurai Warriors.
Saudi Arabia Team News
Saudi Arabia striker Firas al-Buraikan scored the only tally in a 1-0 victory over Oman last week. He and Saleh Al-Shehri lead the squad with three goals apiece in the 2022 World Cup qualifiers. Salem Al-Dawsari has six total goals in their qualifiers, which is tied with Al-Shehri.
Prediction and Odds
These are two evenly matched teams, so the outcome of this round could have a significant impact on which team qualifies for the World Cup.
- Japan Win
- Goals Under 3.5
- First to Score: Home
