One of the most impressive teams from the first set of group matches at the World Cup goes up against arguably the most disappointing in what could be a decisive Group E game.
Japan came back from a goal down to stun Germany 2–1 in its opening game, while Costa Rica was battered for 90 minutes by Spain in a relentless 7–0 thrashing for the ages. As a result, a Japan win coupled with a Spain victory over Germany later in the day would sort the group after two games.
Los Ticos will look to keep that from happening, though. The Concacaf region has struggled as a whole, with the four nations (Costa Rica, USA, Mexico, Canada) combining for no wins and one goal through six games (0-3-3), and the Central American nation sets out to restore a little pride against a team that won’t make it easy.
Follow along here for live updates and highlights of goals and key plays from throughout the match (refresh for most recent updates).
Here are the lineups for both teams:
Full World Cup Squads
Japan
GOALKEEPERS: Shūichi Gonda (Shimizu S-Pulse), Eiji Kawashima (Strasbourg), Daniel Schmidt (Sint-Truiden)
DEFENDERS: Ko Itakura (Borussia Mönchengladbach), Hiroki Ito (Stuttgart), Yuto Nagatomo (FC Tokyo), Hiroki Sakai (Urawa Red Diamonds), Shogo Taniguchi (Kawasaki Frontale), Takehiro Tomiyasu (Arsenal), Miki Yamane (Kawasaki Frontale), Maya Yoshida (Schalke)
MIDFIELDERS: Ritsu Dōan (Freiburg), Wataru Endo (Stuttgart), Junya Ito (Reims), Daichi Kamada (Eintracht Frankfurt), Takefusa Kubo (Real Sociedad), Ao Tanaka (Fortuna Düsseldorf), Takumi Minamino (Monaco), Kaoru Mitoma (Brighton), Hidemasa Morita (Sporting CP), Gaku Shibasaki (Leganés), Yuki Soma (Nagoya Grampus)
FORWARDS: Takuma Asano (Bochum), Shuto Machino (Shonan Bellmare), Daizen Maeda (Celtic), Ayase Ueda (Cercle Brugge)
Costa Rica
GOALKEEPERS: Esteban Alvarado (Herediano), Keylor Navas (PSG), Patrick Sequeira (CD Lugo)
DEFENDERS: Francisco Calvo (Konyaspor), Daniel Chacón (Colorado Rapids), Óscar Duarte (Al-Wehda), Keysher Fuller (Herediano), Carlos Martínez (San Carlos), Ronald Matarrita (FC Cincinnati), Bryan Oviedo (Real Salt Lake), Juan Pablo Vargas (Millonarios), Kendall Waston (Saprissa)
MIDFIELDERS: Brandon Aguilera (Nottingham Forest), Jewison Bennette (Sunderland), Celso Borges (Alajuelense), Anthony Hernández (Puntarenas), Douglas López (Herediano), Bryan Ruiz (Alajuelense), Youstin Salas (Saprissa), Yeltsin Tejeda (Herediano), Gerson Torres (Herediano), Roan Wilson (Grecia), Álvaro Zamora (Saprissa)
FORWARDS: Joel Campbell (León), Anthony Contreras (Herediano), Johan Venegas (Alajuelense)
