Japan vs Spain Prediction: Spain to proceed to the next round

Japan's men's football team, which is still undefeated in the Paris 2024 Olympics thus far, is getting ready for an incredible matchup against Spain on Friday 2nd August 2024 at 18:00 (GMT+3) at the Groupama Stadium in Lyon for a spot in the semifinals, where they would play Morocco or the US. With nine points out of a possible nine, Go Oiwa's troops easily won Group D, while La Roja was forced to settle for second place in Group C, behind Egypt.

Japan is the form team going into this match. They finished ahead of Paraguay as Group D winners after managing three victories out of three in the group stage. They will be fired up for this match after losing to Spain in the men's football semifinal of the 2020 Summer Olympics, placing them in fourth place and just outside the medal positions.

Spain's U23 Olympic team was anticipated to be one of the main contenders for the gold medal following their senior team's victory in Euro 2024. They had previously won gold at the Barcelona 1992 Games, but they were defeated as finalists in 2020. After winning their first two matches, they advanced from Group C; however, in their third match, Egypt defeated a much-changed team 2-1. As a result, Spain will now play the winners of Group D in what should be an extremely difficult quarterfinal match.

Japan demonstrated that they were superior to Israel, Paraguay, and Mali in Group D and were only one of two teams, along with hosts France, to win all three group matches. Japan translated their impressive pre-tournament form into an amazing run of group-stage results.

In addition, Oiwa's team equaled Thierry Henry's team in both scoring categories, scoring seven goals and giving up zero goals overall. They also got off to a perfect start, defeating Paraguay 5-0 in their first match. Japan's subsequent wins over Israel and Mali were not nearly as decisive, with Oiwa's team needing to hold out until the very end on both occasions to secure the crucial goal. On July 27, Rihito Yamamoto defeated the African nation.

After three days, Japan was on the verge of ending its perfect record against Israel when Mao Hosoya, a late substitute, scored in the second half of injury time to give the four-time quarterfinalists their seventh victory in eight tournament games. Japan's best men's football results to date are fourth place in the London 2012 Olympics and the home event of Tokyo 2020. However, given Oiwa's team's recent exploits, a medal around their necks is not out of the question. Japan has yet to finish on the Games podium.

Prior to a battle for the top spot with Egypt, the Spaniards had already defeated both the Dominican Republic and Uzbekistan, and heading into matchday three in Group C, they were also expected to cruise into the knockout stages with nine points from a possible nine. But Ibrahim Adel's genius proved too strong for Santi Denia's team to contain, as he scored twice before the half ended, leaving La Roja with a mountain to climb—one that they were able to partially ascend with an injury-time goal from Samu Omorodion.

The Atletico Madrid striker's effort was ultimately in vain for Denia's team, as Egypt shocked everyone by winning 2-1 and overtaking Spain by one point to take the lead, sending La Roja to the position of runners-up. However, more recent history favors Spain in head-to-head matches against the Japanese, and the 1992 champions advanced to the gold medal match at the Sydney 2000 Games despite finishing second in their group.

In fact, a goal from Marco Asensio in extra time helped La Roja defeat Japan 1-0 in the semi-finals of the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, allowing Spain to exact revenge for their defeat at the London 2012 Olympics, where David de Gea and Juan Mata were among the well-known players competing.

The Spanish, who had to rest some of their key players during their last match against Egypt, will be up against a Japanese team that has a perfect record. The Spanish team is strongly favored to win this game. Spain's unexpected loss to Egypt should be viewed cautiously, as Denia made numerous changes with a quarterfinal spot already guaranteed. 

La Roja's defense is still porous, but Denia's rested power players ought to exert themselves on the opposing side of the ball to shatter Japan's undefeated record and propel them into the semifinals.