Japan will set out to maintain their perfect record at the Paris 2024 Olympics when they take on Israel in their final Group D involvement at Stade de la Beaujoire on Tuesday.
Israel, meanwhile, go in search of a much-needed victory to stand any chance of making it through to the knockout phase.
Match preview
© Reuters
Israel were on the receiving end of a 4-2 defeat against Japan in Saturday's thrilling contest at the Parc des Princes.
Guy Luzon's men showed great resolve on two occasions to level matters through Omri Gandelman and Oscar Gloukh after going 1-0 and 2-1 down but were put to the sword by late goals from Fabian Balbuena and Marcelo Fernandez.
With just one point picked up from two matches so far, the Middle East nation currently sit bottom of Group D but are not down and out by any means.
While Israel will need results elsewhere to go their way in the battle for a quarter-final place, all they can do is take care of business on their own part by getting the job done here.
Japan got the better of Mali courtesy of a 1-0 victory when the sides went head to head at the Matmut Atlantique on Saturday afternoon.
Go Oiwa's men got their noses in front eight minutes from time through Rihito Yamamoto and that proved to be the decisive moment after Cheickna Doumbia missed a stoppage-time penalty.
While it was not as emphatic as their opening 5-0 triumph, Saturday's win means that Japan are one of only two teams to have already confirmed their place in the last eight.
The Asians currently hold a three-point advantage over Paraguay at the top of Group D and are a further two points clear of Mali and Israel.
Team News
Israel's Stav Lemkin is a doubt for this one after coming off with an injury scare against Paraguay.
Should Lemkin be deemed unfit to participate here, defender Or Israelov could be handed his first start of the competition.
Rihito Yamamoto was on target for a second straight game in the win over Mali, making him one to keep an eye on for Japan.
Yu Hirakawa missed the aforementioned game through injury and the 23-year-old is on course to sit out Tuesday's affair as well.
Off the back of an opening-day brace, Shunsuke Mito surprisingly had to make do with a second-half cameo last time out and will be expected to return to the XI.
Israel possible starting lineup:
Niron; Feingold, Israelov, Goldberg, Harush; Abada, Gandelman, Azoulay, Shahar; Turgeman, Gloukh
Japan possible starting lineup:
Kokubo; Sekine, Takai, Kimura, Ohata; Yamamoto, Fujita; Sato, Mito, Saito; Hosoya
We say: Israel 1-3 Japan
Japan have laid down an early marker with their performances so far and it is hard to bet against them keeping their 100% start intact. We are tipping Oiwa's men to come out on top at the end of the 90 minutes.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
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