Kick off: Japan and Costa Rica get underway
We are underway in this crucial Group E match!
Will Japan advance to the round of 16? Or will Costa Rica rekindle its World Cup aspirations?
The next 90 minutes will prove pivotal.
The tidiest team at the tournament
The Japan team has already made an impact on the pitch -- its 2-1 win over Germany was one of the World Cup's biggest shocks.
But the Japan fans and players are also making an impact off the pitch.
After the team's victory on Wednesday, FIFA, soccer's world governing body, tweeted a picture of Japan's dressing room which was left spotless after the players and the coaching staff cleaned up after themselves.
In the tweet, FIFA said: "After an historic victory against Germany at the FIFA World Cup on Match Day 4, Japan fans cleaned up their rubbish in the stadium, whilst the (Japan players) left their changing room at Khalifa International Stadium like this. Spotless.
"Domo Arigato."
A follow up tweet showed some origami cranes which the players had left behind too.
I think we're all Japan fans now, aren't we?
Here are the Japan and Costa Rica lineups ahead of today's Group E match
Japan
Manager: Hajime Moriyasu
Goalkeeper: Shuichi Gonda
Defenders: Miki Yamane, Ko Itakura, Maya Yoshida, Yuto Nagatomo
Midfielders: Wataru Endo, Hidemasa Morita, Ritsu Doan, Daichi Kamada, Yuki Soma
Forward: Ayase Ueda
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Costa Rica
Manager: Luis Fernando Suárez
Goalkeeper: Keylor Navas
Defenders: Kendall Watson, Óscar Duarte, Francisco Calvo, Bryan Oviedo
Midfielders: Keysher Fuller, Celso Borges, Yeltsin Tejeda, Gerson Torres
Forwards: Anthony Contreras, Joel Campbell
For the squad list for all the teams playing in the World Cup, click here.
Progression to next round or elimination on the line as Japan face Costa Rica in first game of day
The first game today sees Japan face Costa Rica at the Ahmad bin Ali Stadium in Doha.
The teams had differing fortunes in their opening round of fixtures in Group E, with Japan providing one of the shocks of the tournament by beating Germany. On the other hand, Costa Rica was thrashed 7-0 by Spain.
Knowing a win would send it through to the next phase of the competition, Japan enters the game full of confidence.
And with a final group game against Spain on the horizon, the Samurai Blue will want to head into that game with qualification already secured.
For Costa Rica, it could become the second team -- alongside Qatar -- to be knocked out if beaten today.
Los Ticos have generally acquitted themselves well on the World Cup stage, the high point coming during that historic quarterfinal run at Brazil 2014, and manager Luis Fernando Suárez will be keen to prove that the Spain result was just a bad day at the office.
