Japan can secure their place in the quarter-final of the Paris 2024 Olympics when they take on Mali in their second group-stage match on Saturday evening.
The Samurai Blue posted the biggest win of the competition so far on matchday one and lead the group, while Les Aigles played out a 1-1 draw against Israel in their opening match.
Match preview
© Reuters
Since 1996, Japan have participated in every Olympic football tournament, and this time they qualified for the Games by winning the AFC Under-23s Asian Cup, beating Uzbekistan 1-0 in the final.
Go Oiwa's squad is the only one in Paris without any overage players, highlighting that this competition serves as a crucial stepping stone for the Japan Football Association's (JFA) larger goals.
Despite the absence of some of their more senior players, there is an abundance of attacking cohesion among the youngsters, which was evident in their opening game of the tournament last week.
Taking advantage of Paraguay being reduced to 10 men midway through the first half, even though the score was already 1-0 in Japan's favour, the East Asian side dominated the second half and went on to secure a 5-0 victory, setting themselves up for a likely quarter-final appearance.
The goals were scored by Shunsuke Mito (2), Rihito Yamamoto (1) and Shota Fujio (2), and with that result, the team have now scored a total of 12 goals while conceding only five in their last six outings.
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Meanwhile, this is only the second time that the Mali national team have qualified for the Olympics, with their first appearance coming in 2004 when they reached the quarter-final.
Les Aigles secured their place in the competition as the third African team. At the Under-23s Africa Cup of Nations, they were defeated by Morocco in the semi-finals on penalties, but they won the third-place match against Guinea in another penalty shootout.
Mali got their 2024 Olympics campaign underway with a 1-1 draw against Israel at the Parc des Princes. Hamidou Diallo's own goal in the 53rd minute was cancelled out by Cheickna Doumbia less than 10 minutes later, securing his side a point in the process.
While the Samurai Blue are clear favourites here, Mali do have some talented players in their squad and are likely to pose more problems to the Japanese than 10-man Paraguay.
These sides have faced off just once before, in an international friendly back in 2018, which ended in a 1-1 draw after Japan scored a last-minute equaliser.
Team News
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Fujio came off the bench to score a quick-fire brace for Japan in their opening match victory against Paraguay, and that should be enough to earn him a start in this weekend's matchup.
Despite not getting on the scoresheet, Koki Saito played an influential role from midfield and he should keep his place alongside Mito, behind Kashiwa Reysol forward Mao Hosoya.
Given their performance against Israel, Alou Badra Diallo may be tempted to go with an unchanged lineup here, with Doumbia and Abdou Jiddou leading the line.
Reims attacker Thiemoko Diarra, who set up Mali's equaliser in the first match, was given the Man of the Match award for his performance, and Les Aigles will need another big performance from the 21-year-old in this one.
Japan possible starting lineup:
Kokubo; Sekine, Kimura, Takai, Ohata; Saito, Mito, Hirakawa, Yamamoto; Fujito, Fujio
Mali possible starting lineup:
Diarra; Doucoure, Diallo, Tounkara, Diomande; Traore, Jiddou, Diakite, T. Diarra; Doumbia, B. Diarra
We say: Japan 2-1 Mali
Mali looked solid against Israel and we expect them to put up a much better performance against Japan than Paraguay managed, but the Samurai Blue are in a great rhythm in this competition and we feel they will outscore the African nation in this one.
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