Japan vs United States Match Analysis and Prediction

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With less than two months away from the start of the World Cup, Japan and the United States go head to head at Merkur Spiel-Arena in Dusseldorf on Friday.

The upcoming international window is the last opportunity for Hajime Moriyasu to eveluate his Japan squad and who would be the best 26 players to take to Qatar.

Moriyasu was an assistant for Japan four years ago when they qualified for the last 16 in Russia, though making it beyond the opening phase this time around could be much challenging, especially as they are in a group that features Germany and Spain.

Japan’s road to the knockout stage in Qatar may be a difficult one, however, they fared well in Asian qualifying against some formidable teams, finishing second in a group that featured Saudi Arabia and Australia.

Currently, Japan are the top-ranked team in Asia, capturing the East Asian Cup through a 3-0 victory over South Korea in July, their first trophy in a major competition since winning the Asian Cup in 2011.

Meanwhile, Gregg Berhalter has a lot of tough decisions to make between now and November 21 when his United States team kick off their World Cup campaign against Wales.

Their qualifying campaign may not have been the most impresive, with the United States finishing third in the Octagon, behind Mexico and Canada, but individual quality on this side carried them through.

Heading into this friendly, Berhalter’s side have only suffered one defeat in their last eight matches across all competitions, with five shutouts over that stretch.

In the new millennium, the United States have only played seven international matches against teams that compete in Asia, with the Americans winning six of those matches, while their only setback over that time was a 2-1 defeat to South Korea in 2001.

Japan vs United States head to head

These two nations have previously met on just one occasion in recent history in 2006, where United States won 3-2 at home in a friendly.

United States 3-2 Japan 11/02/06

Japan latest home form

Japan have recently been on a relatively good run of form at home, having lost just one of their five most recent matches. They defeated Korea Republic 3-0 in their last away game in the Football Championship. In their last five matches, they have scored 13 goals and conceded four.

Japan 4-1 Ghana 10/06/22

Japan 0-3 Tunisia 14/06/22

Japan 6-0 Hong Kong 19/07/22

Japan 0-0 China PR 24/07/22

Japan 3-0 Korea Republic 27/07/22

Japan latest away form

Japan have recently been on a relatively good run of form on the road, having lost just one of their six most recent matches. They defeated Australia 2-0 in their last away game in the World Cup Qualifiers. In their last five matches, they have scored five goals and conceded one.

China PR 0-1 Japan 07/09/21

Saudi Arabia 1-0 Japan 07/10/21

Vietnam 0-1 Japan 11/11/21

Oman 0-1 Japan 16/11/21

Australia 0-2 Japan 24/03/22

United States latest home form

United States have recently been on a good run of form at home, and have been unbeaten in their five most recent matches. They defeated Grenada 5-0 in their last home game in the Nations League. In their last five matches, they have scored 16 goals and conceded just one.

United States 3-0 Honduras 03/02/22

United States 5-1 Panama 28/03/22

United States 3-0 Morocco 02/06/22

United States 0-0 Uruguay 06/06/22

United States 5-0 Grenada 11/06/22

United States latest away form

United States have recently failed to keep a good run of form on the road, having been winless in their six most recent matches. They drew 1-1 with El Salvador in their last away game in the Nations League. In their last five matches, they have scored two goals and conceded six.

Jamaica 1-1 United States 17/11/21

Canada 2-0 United States 30/01/22

Mexico 0-0 United States 25/03/22

Costa Rica 2-0 United States 31/03/22

El Salvador 1-1 United States 15/06/22

Japan news

Reo Hatate, Kyogo Furuhashi and Daizen Maeda, who are all teammates at Celtic, were selected for this friendly, alongside Wataru Endo and Hiroki Ito.

Goals from Yuki Soma, Shuto Machino and Sho Sasaki helped Japan to a 3-0 victory over South Korea at the East Asian Cup, but Sasaki was not chosen for this window.

United States news

United States’ Cameron Carter-Vickers, Chris Richards and Yunus Musah all recently picked up fresh injuries, with Berhalter adding Mark McKenzie, Johnny Cardoso and Erik Palmer-Brown to the side.

Josh Sargent makes a return to the side, with the Norwich City striker tallying the second most goals in the Championship this season.