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[monks data]
Japan national football team
Asian Cup | Group Stage
Jan 14, 2024 at 11.30am UK
Al Thumama Stadium
Vietnam national football team

Japan
4 - 2
Vietnam

Minamino (11', 45'), Nakamura (45+4'), Ueda (85')
Sugawara (32')
FT(HT: 3-2)
Bac Nguyen (16'), Hai Pham (33')

Preview: Japan vs. Vietnam - prediction, team news, lineups

Sports Mole previews Sunday's Asian Cup clash between Japan and Vietnam, including predictions, team news and possible lineups.

The first match in an action-packed first Sunday at the AFC Asian Cup will see one of the tournament favourites Japan take on Vietnam at the Al Thumama Stadium in Doha.

This clash will be the opening match in Group D of the competition, which also includes Indonesia and Iraq, who will square off at the Ahmad bin Ali Stadium on Monday afternoon.


Match preview

Japan's Takumu Kawamura celebrates with Yukinari Sugiyama after scoring a goal on January 1, 2024© Reuters

As the highest-ranked team in the competition, Japan features a squad comprising players from some of Europe's elite leagues and are heavily backed to to secure what would be a record-extending fifth title.

Japan clinched their first-ever Asian Cup trophy back in 1992 by defeating Saudi Arabia 1-0 in the final, with Takuya Takagi playing a pivotal role and scoring the match-winner in the 36th minute.

However, they had to wait almost a decade for their second title but managed it in 2000, when they once again overcame the Green Falcons 1-0 thanks to Shigeyoshi Mochizuki's first-half strike.

The Samurai Blue were extremely impressive once again in 2023, losing only one game since bowing out in the last 16 at the 2022 World Cup, while they have also secured victories over Germany, Canada and Turkey in recent months.

Japan have now won their last nine games in total, and while the current team may seem inexperienced at first glance, the Samurai Blue have been churning out big results almost with ease and look like the team to beat based on form in the lead-up to the competition.

Vietnam's Nguyen Binh Thanh celebrates scoring their first goal with teammates on March 29, 2022© Reuters

In the realm of Asian football, many would likely agree that the South and Southeast Asian regions have often been neglected and lacked the attention and investment seen in some of the other regions.

However, this narrative began to change in 2019, marked by Vietnam's journey to the Asian Cup quarter-finals and their subsequent advancement to the third-round qualifiers of the 2022 World Cup.

The Golden Star Warriors secured qualification for the continental competition for the second consecutive time this year, with their previous edition seeing them reach the quarter-finals before bowing out to none other than their opponents in this match.

Philippe Troussier was appointed as the successor to long-term coach Hang-seo Park back in March last year and made a very promising start to life as the Vietnam boss, winning his first three matches in succession. However, his side failed to maintain that momentum and lost five of their next six games, including a 2-1 defeat to Kyrgyz Republic in midweek.

Japan and Vietnam have met five times across all competitions, with The Samurai Blue dominating the fixture, boasting an unbeaten record of four wins, while one match ended in a draw.

Japan form (all competitions):


Vietnam form (all competitions):



Team News

Japan coach Hajime Moriyasu before the match on March 28, 2023© Reuters

The competition for places in Japan's team is evident as players like Ao Tanaka of Fortuna Dusseldorf and Kyogo Furuhashi of Celtic, who both scored in the 2022 World Cup, did not make the final squad.

Yet, despite having a star-studded roster, Hajime Moriyasu's team surprisingly lacks international goalkeeping experience, with all three of their goalkeepers, Daiya Maekawa, Taishi Nozawa and Zion Suzuki, holding only five senior caps combined.

Brighton & Hove Albion winger Kaoru Mitoma has been included in the squad despite an injury, with Japan optimistic about his potential return to fitness during the tournament.

Vietnam were hit with an injury crisis leading up to the competition, with Que Ngoc Hai, Nguyen Tien Linh, Dang Van Lam, Nguyen Thanh Chung and Hoang Van Toan all dropping out of the squad in recent weeks.

Nguyen Hoang Duc made the 26-man squad for the Golden Star Warriors but is still recovering from an ankle injury and has been confirmed as a definite absentee for this opening match.


Japan possible starting lineup:
Maekawa; Tomiyasu, Machida, Sugawara, H. Ito; Endo, Morita, J. Ito, Kubo, Asano; Ueda

Vietnam possible starting lineup:
Trieu; Thanh, Binh, Phan, Anh; Trong, Thanh, Nguyen, Toan; Linh, Pham


SM words green background

We say: Japan 3-0 Vietnam

Japan will get their Asian Cup campaign started carrying excellent form and boasting a star-studded roster that would likely pose a challenge to any team in world football. While everyone loves a nail-biting opening round fixture, we feel that this will not be one of those and expect the Samurai Blue to cruise to victory in this one.



For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.


Top tip

Our expert tipster partners at Sporita.com are predicting over 3.5 goals in this match. Click here to find out what else they are predicting for this game and for more of their tried-and-tested football tips.Over 3.5:data


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Game History

How you voted: Japan vs Vietnam

Japan
78.6%
Draw
7.1%
Vietnam
14.3%
42
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Group A

TeamPWDLPTS
Q Qatar Qatar33009
Q Tajikistan Tajikistan31114
3 China China30212
4 Lebanon flag Lebanon30121

Group B

TeamPWDLPTS
Q Australia Australia32107
Q Uzbekistan Uzbekistan31205
Q Syria flag Syria31114
4 India India30030

Group C

TeamPWDLPTS
Q Iran Iran33009
Q United Arab Emirates flag UAE31114
Q Palestine flag Palestine31114
4 Hong Kong Hong Kong00000

Group D

TeamPWDLPTS
Q Iraq Iraq33009
Q Japan Japan32016
Q Indonesia flag Indonesia31023
4 Vietnam flag Vietnam30030

Group E

TeamPWDLPTS
Q Bahrain Bahrain32016
Q Republic of Korea South Korea31205
Q Jordan flag Jordan31114
4Malaysia30121

Group F

TeamPWDLPTS
Q Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia32107
Q Thailand Thailand31205
3 Oman flag Oman30212
4 Kyrgyzstan flag Kyrgyzstan30121


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