Ahmad Bin Ali Stadium will play host to Sunday's FIFA World Cup game between Japan and Costa Rica. The game kicks off at 9:00 pm with Japan heading into the game as favourites with the bookmakers. Continue reading for our in-depth preview of the Japan vs. Costa Rica game and give you our free tips and bets.

When: Sunday November 27, 2022 at 9:00 pm

Where: Ahmad Bin Ali Stadium

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Japan vs Costa Rica Odds

Japan vs Costa Rica Preview

Japan and Costa Rica experienced wildly contrasting emotions in their opening Group E matches, with the Samurai Blue jubilant at landing a historic 2-1 win against Germany while Los Ticos suffered humiliation at the hands of Spain.

While both results understandably raised eyebrows, neither performance was wildly unexpected given the contrasting quality of these two teams.

Japan rode their luck when needed against Germany but are a genuinely good team who will be dangerous to all opponents.

They may not boast the same technical excellence from front to back that the truly elite international sides contain, but the Samurai Blue are well organised, intense in the press and skilful in attack. Their quality in all areas means Japan will rarely suffer a heavy defeat and can land the occasional shock when things go their way.

At the 2018 World Cup, Japan beat Colombia, held Senegal to a draw and went 2-0 up in the round of 16 before eventually succumbing to an excellent Belgium team. Hajime Moriyasu’s side held Uruguay and Ecuador to draws as guest participants at the 2019 Copa America, too, and have beaten World Cup qualifiers Saudi Arabia, Australia, Ghana, South Korea and USA since the start of the year.

There have also been losses, of course. Brazil, Tunisia and Canada have all beaten the Samurai Blue in 2022 but even in defeat Japan usually give a good account of themselves.

That has not been the case for Costa Rica. True, the scale of their 7-0 humbling by Spain was in part due to the quality of their opponents but Costa Rica are well below the required standard.

Luis Fernando Suarez’s team were underwhelming in qualifying, finishing behind mid-ranking Canada, Mexico and USA. And the dearth of quality in the Concacaf region is highlighted by the rivals they beat to fourth place – Panama, Jamaica, El Salvador and Honduras.

That sent them into an inter-confederation play-off against New Zealand, who they were supremely fortunate to beat. Joel Campbell’s third-minute goal proved enough but they were outplayed for the next 87 minutes – even though the Kiwis had to play with just ten men for 25 of those.

New Zealand controlled 67 percent possession and had a goal disallowed – a decision that was as controversial as the red card – and had 15 shots to Costa Rica’s four. If a team of New Zealand’s limited quality could dominate Los Ticos, then a World Cup group containing Spain, Germany and Japan was always going to be far too much.

Nine of the Costa Rican players who played more than 30 minutes against Spain were aged 30 or older, including all four of their star men – midfielder Bryan Ruiz is 37, striker Campbell is 30, left-back Bryan Oviedo 32 and goalkeeper Keylor Navas is 35.

This is a tournament too far for at least four or five of Los Tico’s key men and that showed against Spain, where a lack of energy was as much of a problem as their lack of quality.

Navas, in particular, showed his age in goal, saving just one of eight shots on target. A kind reading would say two efforts he could have done nothing about, but two were howlers and the rest he might have had a chance with while in his Real Madrid pomp.

Navas is sure to be busy again against a Japanese side who do not boast the same technical excellence as Spain but can match them for energy and pressing and have shown they have excellent finishers within the squad.

That spells more trouble for shell-shocked Costa Rica.

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Japan vs Costa Rica Tip