Japan vs Brazil

National Olympic Stadium is the venue as Japan and Brazil go head-to-head in a tasty-looking international friendly.

After booking their place at Qatar 2022, Japan dismantled CONMEBOL strugglers Paraguay 4-1 in their maiden warm-up fixture ahead of the upcoming tournament. However, the ‘Samurai Blue’ are now up against a side they’ve conceded 3+ goals against in all five previous international H2Hs, succumbing to multi-goal margin defeats on each occasion. Despite heading into this encounter on an eye-catching eight-game unbeaten streak (W7, D1), Japan’s most noticeable triumph in that stretch was a 2-0 triumph over FIFA’s #42 ranked Australia. By contrast, their three meetings with FIFA’s top-five ranked nations across the last five years all yielded defeats. With two of those losses seeing Hajime Moriyasu’s men get on the scoresheet, Japan will at least feel confident about hitting the net in Tokyo.

On the other hand, Brazil swept Japan’s neighbours Korea Republic 5-1 in their most recent international friendly, taking their winning streak to four games. The ‘Selecao’ have secured a record points haul in a South American World Cup qualification cycle with a game to spare (45), highlighting the confidence in Tite’s camp. After climbing to the top of FIFA’s men’s ranking, the South American heavyweights will be looking to stay there by maintaining a 100% unbeaten ratio against Japan (W10, D2). Having averaged a remarkable 2.83 goals per match across that 12-game sequence, Brazil must be feeling confident about scoring in a sixth successive international. Adding to this sentiment, Neymar and comrades have scored 4+ goals in their last two internationals on foreign soil (W2).