'We need to forget win over Germany' - head coach Moriyasu
Japan take on Costa Rica in Group E of World Cup 2022 this morning as they hope to secure a spot in the last 16 today. Their opening game versus Germany was one of the shocks of the tournament as Hajime Moriyasu’s men fought from a goal down to win 2-1 thanks to two goals in the second half. That victory puts Japan on three points and another win today will see them qualify if Spain avoid defeat to Germany in the late kick off.
They face a Costa Rica side low on confidence after they were soundly beaten 7-0 by Spain last time out. The Central American side have only reached the knockout rounds once since 1990 and failed to win a single game in Russia 2018 which, based on the evidence of their first game, looks likely to happen again during this tournament.
There are calls to make over personnel for both managers. It was Japan’s substitutes who changed the game against so will Moriyasu stick or twist with his starting XI?
Costa Rica boss, Luis Fernando Suarez, has a similar call to make – but for different reasons as his entire team were woeful against Spain – and he will be hoping that whoever starts will play better if his side have any hope of earning a point in this group.
Follow all the action from Qatar with our live blog below:
Japan 0-1 Costa Rica
90 mins: Six minutes of added time to play.
Japan 0-1 Costa Rica
89 mins: Save! Mitoma does brilliantly on the left wing to carry the ball to the byline and pull it back into the box. The ball comes to Kamada who shoots and sees his effort kept out by the legs of Keylor Navas.
The ball then pinballs around the six-yard box before the goalkeeper grabs it under control.
Japan 0-1 Costa Rica
87 mins: If Costa Rica do go on to win this game it’ll have ramifications for the rest of the group and provide Germany with a lifeline.
Japan, Spain and Costa Rica will all have three points meaning the Germans could lose to Luis Enrique’s side later on and still potentially qualify for the next round.
It takes a lot of pressure away from Hansi Flick’s side.
Japan 0-1 Costa Rica
84 mins: After their 7-0 drubbing against Spain no-one was backing Costa Rica to get the job done against Japan today but they’ve defended resolutely and taken their opportunity when it came.
Can they hold on and claim all three points?
GOAL! Japan 0-1 Costa Rica (Fuller, 81’)
81 mins: Shock! Where has this come from?
Costa Rica have kept themselves in this game and take the lead after Yeltsin Tejeda recovers the ball high up the pitch. He slides a pass into the area to match Keysher Fuller’s run.
Fuller controls the ball and curls a shot over to the left side of the goal. Shichi Gonda gets two hands to the ball but can’t keep it out and Costa Rica have the lead with less than 10 minutes to play.
Japan 0-0 Costa Rica
76 mins: Junya Ito’s cross from the right side almost finds Kamada but it goes over his head and is safely booted out of play by Keysher Fuller.
The resultant corner comes swinging into the penalty area and gets nodded out for another set piece. Good pressure from Japan this.
Japan 0-0 Costa Rica
73 mins: Kamada drills Japan’s free kick right into the wall and Soma blasts the rebound back into the box only to have his own effort blocked.
Still no way through for Japan.
Japan 0-0 Costa Rica
72 mins: Francisco Calvo is a lucky, lucky man. Junya Ito receives the ball and spins away from Calvo before driving into the box. The Japanese striker has the chance to shoot but Calvo pulls him back and makes the foul mere inches outside the penalty area.
The referee pulls out a yellow card for the Costa Rican defender but it easily could have been red for denying a goalscoring opportunity.
Japan 0-0 Costa Rica
69 mins: 19-year-old midfielder Brandon Aguilera and 18-year-old Jewison Bennette are on for Costa Rica to give them some fresh legs and a bit of pace in transition.
Gerson Torres and Antony Contreras are the two men replaced.
Japan 0-0 Costa Rica
66 mins: Junya Ito has also come on. Hajime Moriyasu is properly going for the win now, he’s flooding the forward line with attackers but Japan still haven’t found a way to break Costa Rica down.
