Women’s World Cup 2023: Japan vs Costa Rica Prediction, Preview, and Odds (July 26)

• Japan landed a huge 5-0 win over Zambia in their opening match
• Costa Rica were well beaten in their opening match by Spain

One of the standout nations from the opening round of matches at the Women’s World Cup will be back in action on Wednesday morning, as Japan looks to secure their place in the next round of the competition. Costa Rica will be their opponents, as they look to bounce back following defeat against Spain.

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How To Watch

• When: Wednesday, July 26, 2023, at 1:00 a.m ET
• Where: Forsyth Barr Stadium, Dunedin, New Zealand
• How To Watch: FOX

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Odds

Match Result	Odds
Japan (-3)
Costa Rica (+3)

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Match Preview

One of the nations that I was most impressed with following the opening round of matches at the World Cup will be back in action on Wednesday. Japan was extremely dominant in their first outing, as they soundly recorded a 5-0 win over Zambia. However, it was the manner of their performance that caught my eye, as they looked among the most dangerous nations in the competition when it came to attacking play.

In truth, Japan deserved to win by a bigger margin against Zambia, such was the number of chances that they managed to create. The former champions were led by Hinata Miyazawa, who scored twice, while further efforts were registered by Mina Tanaka and Jun Endo.

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Victory for Japan. 🙌

An injury-time penalty sees the #FIFAWWC 2011 Champions claim a convincing win over Zambia!

— FIFA Women's World Cup (@FIFAWWC) July 22, 2023

Costa Rica will need to perform much better than they did in their opening match, as they were easily beaten by Spain. In that match, they managed just 19.9% of the possession, marking the first time that a nation has ever enjoyed fewer than 20% of the possession in a World Cup fixture. They also managed just 74 passes; the fewest ever recorded by a single nation in a match at the tournament.

The nation is yet to win a match at the World Cup, having lost each of their last two. Costa Rica is also yet to keep a clean sheet at the tournament, and there appears slim chance of that record being changed against such as dominant Japanese forward line on Wednesday.

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Japan vs Costa Rica Prediction

Japan was the team that caught my eye over the opening round of matches, and they have now won five of their last seven group stage matches at the World Cup. I fully expect another dominant performance, and the fact that they are odds-against to cover the spread is pretty staggering.

Free Pick: