Japan vs Tunisia – Kirin Cup LIVE Football Score 14 Jun 2022
Japan will take on Tunisia in the Kirin Cup final at the Suita City stadium on Tuesday. This is the 21st edition of the international friendly tournament and the Samurai Blue will be aiming to regain the title after failing to win it last time around in 2016. They ended up as the runner-up against Bosnia & Herzegovina. Japan head into the tie on the back of a thumping 4-1 win over Ghana in the semi-final on Thursday, while the North African nation got the better of Chile 2-0 to make it to the title decider. Meanwhile this will be the fifth meeting between the two sides across all competitions and Japan have a 100% record against the Carthage Eagles.
The Samurai Blue began their June round of international fixtures with a thumping victory over Paraguay before going down against Brazil courtesy of Neymar’s lone goal. It was Japan’s first defeat in 2022, having won four and drawn once in six fixtures. And then, Hajime Moriyasu got their act together to thrash Ghana at Misaki Park stadium courtesy of goals from Mike Yamane, Kaoru Mitoma, Takefusa Kubo, Daizen Maeda. The Japanese Football Association has arranged for an excellent set of friendlies and cup fixtures, giving the Samurai Blue a chance to test themselves against opponents from all over the world before the World Cup in November. The Samurai Blue are drawn in a tough Group E alongside Germany, Spain and Costa Rica/ New Zealand.
Tunisia on the other hand, began their June round of fixtures with a thumping 4-0 win over Equatorial Guinea before playing out a goalless draw against Botswana in the AFCON qualifiers. And then, got the better of Chile in the last-four stage of Kirin Cup last week. Ali Abdil put Tunisia in front in the first half before Issan Jebali netted a late double and sealed the win. The Northernmost nation in Africa has qualified for the World Cup in November courtesy of a 1-0 aggregate win over Mali in the playoffs. The Carthage Eagles are drawn in Group D alongside Denmark, France, and either Peru or Australia will join them. Therefore, Jalel Kadri will be aiming to use these fixtures to prepare his team in the best possible manner for the upcoming global event.
Japan had picked up 28 players for the June friendlies, but because of injuries the squad strength has been reduced to 25. Yukinari Sugawara, Hidemasa Morita and Ayase Ueda have dropped out due to injuries. Yoshida is expected to lead the back line alongside Taniguchi, Yamane and Ito. As for Tunisia, the Africans traveled for the Kirin Cup with 24 players. No injuries have been reported so far and therefore Jalel Kadrid is unlikely to make too many changes to the side that got the job done against Chile.
Japan will lock horns with Tunisia in the Kirin Cup final at the Suita City Stadium on Tuesday. This is the 21st edition of the international friendly tournament and Japan will be looking to regain the title after failing to win it last time around in 2016. They ended up as the runners-up against Bosnia & Herzegovina. The home team secured a comprehensive 4-1 win against Ghana in the semi-finals while Tunisia, who were called up for the tournament for the first time, overcame Chile 2-0. Japan have won the title on 11 occasions and, as always, will be looking to make the most of their home advantage in this fixture. The two sides have met four times across all competitions, with three encounters being friendly games and one meeting coming in the 2002 FIFA World Cup. Japan have a 100% record against the African team, who have failed to find the back of the net against the Samurai Blue.
This is a bit tricky considering Tunisia did not allow any goals in their last five games; however, it’s going to be difficult to shut out a Japan side that found the net in nine of their last 10 games. In fact, Japan have played three matches this month, and they scored at least four goals in two of them. Just like Japan, Tunisia have scored their fair share of goals; they found the back of the net six times in their last two games. All things considered, we should expect both teams to register goals today.
Finally, we’ll take a look at the over/under goals market. Although Japan scored eight goals in their last three games, they’ve actually been involved in a lot of low-scoring games. It’s worth mentioning that seven of Japan’s last nine games went below the 2.5 goal mark. It’s been the same case with Tunisia, as they allowed just two goals in their last nine games; seven of Tunisia’s last eight games went under 2.5, with six of those games going under 1.5. With this in mind, this should be a low-scoring game.
Japan thrashed Ghana by a 4:1 scoreline to book a place in the final of the Kirin Cup; they’ve now won eight of their last 10 games across all competitions, with just one loss in that stretch. Japan will look to win this tournament a record 12 times by beating Tunisia today; they’ll call on Takefusa Kubo to provide the goals.Tunisia are coming off a 2:0 win against Chile in the semi-final of the Kirin Cup; they’ve enjoyed some fine form recently, with no losses in their last five games. Jalel Kadri’s men will look to extend that run to six games as they take on hosts Japan; will Ali Abdi do enough to give them the win?
Tunisia have had a fairly good run of form recently; they have no losses in their last five games, with three wins and two draws. This is due, in part, to their solid defence; as Tunisia did not concede a single goal in their last five games. On the other hand, Japan have been unstoppable in recent months; they have eight wins in their last 10 games, with a draw and a loss. These are two teams that don’t lose often, and considering this is a final, we believe they’ll be level at the end of regulation time.