In the most equal group of this World Cup, the biggest favourite, Poland, will probably end their performance after this match because they were defeated in both games so far, while Japan as the biggest outsider is in the first place on before the last round and on the threshold of placement in the round of sixteen. The Japanese have made a victory over Colombia with 2-1, and then moved to Senegal, and now they have four points, which means that a draw is not the best option in the second duel of the last round, because otherwise they have secured placement in the finals. The Poles were absolute disappointment in both games and they do not deserve better than going home. These two teams met in a friendly match in 2002 and then Japan celebrated with 2-0.
It seems that the Japanese have timed their form great and are ready when it is most needed and after two rounds, they have four points and are very close to the placement in the round of sixteen, where they were not expected to be, especially after a very weak performance in friendly matches. They had this clash between the players and now the former coach Halilhodzic, who was suddenly dismissed right after the qualifiers, which all alluded to a catastrophe in Russia. However, they got lucky in the first duel with Colombia and they used it to win all three points, but also to improve the confidence before their duel with Senegal.
A great deal of confidence has saved them in that match, where they were losing twice and they managed to get back to the match twice, so the end result was 2-2. They have hoped that Colombia will celebrate against Poland in the second match and are now in a good position, which means even a draw is not a bad option, while defeat does not have to mean elimination and that gives them the necessary peace. Coach Nishino was obviously dissatisfied after a victory against Colombia and did not want to change anything in the starting lineup, where Inu was again the best individual. Since they are not completely safe, there must be no relaxation so we expect them to ply in the same composition again.
Probable lineups Japan: Kawashima – H.Sakai, Yoshida, Shoji, Nagatomo – Hasebe, Shibasaki – Haraguchi, Kagawa, Inui – Osako
They are not the only, but they are certainly a great disappointment in this World Cup, since they had very good qualifiers. In the end, Poland is going home and they have not been able to stay in the fight even until the last round of the group stage, because everything is already known after two rounds. The hint of bad World Cup was the match of the first round in which Senegal lost with 2-1, which did not look so bad, as much as their game was bad, especially in defence, and it should be said that they have scored that one goal in the very finish, when Sczesny already received two goals. They have all failed completely, starting with their biggest star Lewandowski, and it all came to an end, so it was clear why a duel with Colombia was decisive.
Therefore, it was expected that Poles would give their maximum and win at least one point that would keep them alive, but they played another disastrous match and were defeated with 3-0. Coach Nawalka has expectedly made some changes in the second round, and goalkeeper Cionek was not in the team after he scored an own goal, so Bednarek was his replacement in the formation with three on the last line. Bereszynski and Goralski were refreshments in midfield, and Kownacki in the attack. Nothing helped and they maybe even played much worse, so there will be some more changes now, while we expect offensive Poland in the attempt to at least say honourable goodbye to this World Cup.
Probable lineups Poland: Szczesny – Piszczek, Pazdan, Glik, Rybus – Krychowiak, Zielinski – Blaszczykowski, Milik, Grosicki – Lewandowski
The Japanese were on the verge of placement in the round of sixteen, although they did not show anything special, but somehow it all coincided in the end and now even a draw is a good option. Poland has completely failed, however, we expect this team to play this match without any imperative and say goodbye to this World Cup undefeated.
Pick: Asian Handicap 0
Poland 2.09 - 109/100 @1XBet