Japan plays South Africa in the first round of the group stage of the Olympic tournament. The match will take place on July 22nd in Teofu, Japan.
Japan
Japan qualified for the final part of the tournament because they were hosts of the Olympics.
The Japanese have put together a good squad. They have many famous players, like Takefusa Kubo who plays for Real Madrid. Hiroki Sakai also played in the Bundesliga last season and Ritsu Doan also played there before too.
Japan’s Olympic team has played four games this year in friendlies. They lost their game against Argentina, 0-1.
All predictions on football
In June, the Japanese team beat Jamaica 4-0. A few days later they also beat the Honduran youth side 3-1. This most recent result is a 1-1 draw with Spain. They only came back after 70 minutes of being down 1-0.
South Africa
South Africa have qualified for the Olympics following the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations for youth teams. They finished third at that tournament and won in a penalty shoot-out against Ghana. In the group stage, they beat Côte d’Ivoire, drew with Zambia and Nigeria, but lost to Egypt in the semi-finals.
Past five matches where Japan have played:
- Japan 1-0 South Africa – 22.07.2021
- Japan 1-1 Spain – 17.07.2021
- Japan 1-0 Sweden – 11.08.2016
- Japan 2-2 Colombia – 08.08.2016
- Nigeria 5-4 Japan – 05.08.2016
South Africa club statistics:
Football team South Africa play for the International.
Current club squad:
- Williams, Ronwen – goalkeeper
- Mokoena, Teboho – central_midfielder
- Fleurs, Luke – central_defender
- Sele, Thabo – central_midfielder
- Makgopa, Evidence – striker
- Singh, Luther – left_winger
- Mbule, Sipho – central_midfielder
- Mukumela, Thendo – right_winger
- Mabiliso, Sbusiso – left_back
- Malepe, Repo – central_defender
- Foster, Lyle – right_back
Last 4 games with South Africa:
- Japan 1-0 South Africa – 22.07.2021
- South Africa 1:1 Iraq – 11.08.2016
- Denmark 1-0 South Africa – 08.08.2016
- Brazil (23) 0-0 South Africa – 04.08.2016
Forecast and betting
Japan can be bet on in this match for 1.25. A draw is offered for 6.35 and a South Africa win for 14.75. But African talents are good at surprising people, so we shouldn’t expect any surprises from them this time around, but that does not mean that they will not surprise us!
The Japanese team is better. This is a really good team which might compete even for medals in the Olympic tournament as they are currently winning against Spain.
Match results
The Japanese Olympic team had a minimal victory over the South African national team. The Japanese victory was made by the single goal scored by Real Madrid midfielder Takefusa Kubo midway through the second half.