It’s the second Sunday of an already eventful World Cup in Qatar and the tournament is really starting to heat up. Surprise package Japan look to book their place in the knockout stages, as do perennial dark horses Belgium, while Croatia hope to pick up their first win. Capping it all off is the small matter of Spain vs Germany, the biggest game of the competition so far.
Here is everything you need to know about today’s blockbuster action.
Where: Ahmed bin Ali Stadium, Al Rayyan
When: 10am (GMT) / 1pm (AST)
TV: ITV, STV and ITV Hub
Last meeting: Japan 3-0 Costa Rica (Friendly, 2018)
Japan’s last five: Won 2-1 vs Germany, Lost 2-1 vs Canada, Drew 0-0 vs Ecuador, Won 2-0 vs United States, Won 3-0 vs South Korea
Japan’s World Cup record: Seventh finals appearance (Best: Round of 16, 2002, 2010, 2018) Total games: 22, Won 6, Drawn 5, Lost 11. Win percentage 27.27%
Costa Rica's last five: Lost 7-0 vs Spain, Won 2-0 vs Nigeria, Won 2-1 vs Uzbekistan, Drew 2-2 vs South Korea, Won 1-0 vs New Zealand
Costa Rica’s World Cup record: Sixth finals appearance (Best: Quarter-finals, 2014) Total games: 19, Won 5, Drawn 5, Lost 9. Win percentage 26.31%
Japan squad: 1 Eiji Kawashima, 2 Miki Yamane, 3 Shogo Taniguchi, 4 Ko Itakura, 5 Yuto Nagatomo, 6 Wataru Endo, 7 Gaku Shibasaki, 8 Ritsu Doan, 9 Kaoru Mitoma, 10 Takumi Minamino, 11 Takefusa Kubo, 12 Shuichi Gonda, 13 Hidemasa Morita, 14 Junya Ito, 15 Daichi Kamada, 16 Takehiro Tomiyasu, 17 Ao Tanaka, 18 Takuma Asano, 19 Hiroki Sakai, 20 Shuto Machino, 21 Ayase Ueda, 22 Maya Yoshida, 23 Daniel Schmidt, 24 Yuki Soma, 25 Daizen Maeda, 26 Hiroki Ito
Costa Rica squad: 1 Keylor Navas, 2 Daniel Chacon, 3 Juan Pablo Vargas, 4 Keysher Fuller, 5 Celso Borges, 6 Oscar Duarte, 7 Anthony Contreras, 8 Bryan Oviedo, 9 Jewison Bennette, 10 Bryan Ruiz, 11 Johan Venegas, 12 Joel Campbell, 13 Gerson Torres, 14 Youstin Salas, 15 Francisco Calvo, 16 Carlos Martinez, 17 Yeltsin Tejeda, 18 Esteban Alvarado, 19 Kendall Waston, 20 Brandon Aguilera, 21 Douglas Lopez, 22 Ronaldo Matarrita, 23 Patrick Sequeira, 24 Roan Wilson, 25 Anthony Hernandez, 26 Alvaro Zamora
Preview: Japan’s shock win over four-time champions Germany has put Samurai Blue in an incredible position to book their place in the round of 16 for the fourth time in their history. Standing in their way is Costa Rica, who were put to the sword against Spain, losing 7-0.
Los Ticos will be desperate to put that embarrassment behind them, but given they didn’t have a single shot on target on Wednesday, becoming only the second side to fail to do so in a World Cup match since 1966 (also Costa Rica vs Brazil in 1990), they will have to up their game massively against a Japan side bursting at the seams with confidence.
Sportsman stat: Japan are looking to win back-to-back World Cup matches for the first time since 2002.
Betfred match odds: Japan 9/20, Costa Rica 7/1, draw 7/2
Both teams to score: No 8/13, Yes 6/5
Featured bet: Japan and BTTS (No) - 11/10
To qualify from Group E: Japan 4/11, Costa Rica 16/1
Where: Al Thumama Stadium, Al Thumama
When: 1pm (GMT) / 4pm (AST)
TV: BBC One, BBC iPlayer and BBC Sport website
Last meeting: Belgium 1-4 Morocco (Friendly, 2008)
Belgium’s last five: Won 1-0 vs Canada, Lost 1-2 vs Egypt, Lost 0-2 vs Netherlands, Won 2-1 vs Wales, Won 1-0 vs Poland
Belgium’s World Cup record: 14th finals appearance (Best: Third place, 2018) Total games: 49, Won 21, Drawn 9, Lost 19. Win percentage 42.85%
Morocco's last five: Drew 0-0 vs Croatia, Won 3-0 vs Georgia, Drew 0-0 vs Paraguay, Won 2-0 vs Chile, Won 2-0 vs Liberia
Morocco’s World Cup record: Sixth finals appearance (Best: Round of 16, 1986) Total Games: 17, Won 2, Drawn 6, Lost 9. Win percentage 11.76%
Belgium squad: 1 Thibaut Courtois, 2 Toby Alderweireld, 3 Arthur Theate, 4 Wout Faes, 5 Jan Vertonghen, 6 Axel Witsel, 7 Kevin De Bruyne, 8 Youri Tielemans, 9 Romelu Lukaku, 10 Eden Hazard, 11 Yannick Carrasco, 12 Simon Mignolet, 13 Koen Casteels, 14 Dries Mertens, 15 Thomas Meunier, 16 Thorgan Hazard, 17 Leandro Trossard, 18 Amadou Onana, 19 Leander Dendoncker, 20 Hans Vanaken, 21 Timothy Castagne, 22 Charles De Ketelaere, 23 Michy Batshuayi, 24 Lois Openda, 25 Jeremy Doku, 26 Zeno Debast
Morocco squad: 1 Yassine Bounou, 2 Achraf Hakimi, 3 Noussair Mazraoui, 4 Sofyan Amrabat, 5 Nayef Aguerd, 6 Romain Saiss, 7 Hakim Ziyech, 8 Azzedine Ounahi, 9 Abderrazak Hamdallah, 10 Anass Zaroury, 11 Abdelhamid Sabiri, 12 Munir Mohamedi, 13 Ilias Chair, 14 Zakaria Aboukhlal, 15 Selim Amallah, 16 Abde Ezzalzouli, 17 Sofiane Boufal, 18 Jawad El Yamiq, 19 Youssef En-Nesyri, 20 Achraf Dari, 21 Walid Cheddira, 22 Ahmed Reda Tagnaouti, 23 Bilal El Khannous, 24 Badr Benoun, 25 Yahia Attiyat Allah, 26 Yahya Jabrane
Preview: Belgium were far from at their best against Canada in their opener on Wednesday night, but Roberto Martinez’s still managed to leave the Ahmed bin Ali Stadium with a vital three points, courtesy of a sole Michy Batshuayi goal, in what is turning out to be one of the most competitive groups in the whole tournament.
Morocco meanwhile, while unable to find victory, certainly gave a good account of themselves in their Group F opener against Croatia, giving the 2018 runners-up more of a contest than some were anticipating. The Atlas Lions have yet to taste defeat under manager Walid Regragui after four games in charge and it will be interesting to see how Belgium attempt to break down a side who look exceptionally organised.
Sportsman stat: Belgium have never lost to an African nation in the World Cup
Betfred match odds: Belgium evens, Morocco 3/1, draw 12/5
Both teams to score: Yes 4/5, No 10/11
Featured bet: Belgium win and under 2.5 match goals 16/5
To qualify from Group F: Belgium 1/9, Morocco 7/4
Where: Khalifa International Stadium, Doha
When: 4pm (GMT) / 7pm (AST)
TV: BBC One, BBC iPlayer and BBC Sport website
Last meeting: This is the first meeting between Croatia and Canada
Croatia’s last five: Drew 0-0 vs Morocco, Won 1-0 vs Saudi Arabia, Won 3-1 vs Austria, Won 2-1 vs Denmark, Won 1-0 vs France
Croatia’s World Cup record: Sixth finals appearance (Best: Runners-up, 2018) Total Games 24, Won 11, Drawn 5, Lost 8. Win percentage 45.83%
Canada's last five: Lost 1-0 vs Belgium, Won 2-1 vs Japan, Drew 2-2 vs Bahrain, Lost 0-2 vs Uruguay, Won 2-0 vs Qatar
Canada’s World Cup record: Second finals appearance (Best: Group stage, 1986) Total games: 4, Won 0, Drawn 0, Lost 4. Win percentage 0%
Croatia squad: 1 Dominik Livakovic, 2 Josip Stanisic, 3 Borna Barisic, 4 Ivan Perisic, 5 Martin Erlic, 6 Dejan Lovren, 7 Lovro Majer, 8 Mateo Kovacic, 9 Andrej Kramaric, 10 Luka Modric, 11 Marcelo Brozovic, 12 Ivo Grbic, 13 Nikola Vlasic, 14 Marko Livaja, 15 Mario Pasalic, 16 Bruno Petkovic, 17 Ante Budimir, 18 Mislav Orsic, 19 Borna Sosa, 20 Josko Gvardiol, 21 Domagoj Vida, 22 Josip Juranovic, 23 Ivica Ivusic, 24 Josip Sutalo, 25 Luka Susic, 26 Kristijan Jakic
Canada squad: 1 Dayne St. Clair, 2 Alistair Johnston, 3 Sam Adekugbe, 4 Kamal Miller, 5 Steven Vitoria, 6 Samuel Piette, 7 Stephen Eustaguio, 8 Liam Fraser, 9 Lucas Cavalini, 10 Junior Hoilett, 11 Tajon Buchanan, 12 Ike Ugbo, 13 Atiba Hutchinson, 14 Mark-Anthony Kaye, 15 Ismael Kone, 16 James Pantemis, 17, Cyle Larin, 18 Milan Borjan, 19 Alphonso Davies, 20 Jonathan David, 21 Jonathan Osoriom, 22 Richie Laryea, 23 Liam Miller, 24 David Wotherspoon, 25 Derek Cornelius, 26 Joel Waterman
Preview: 2018 finalists Croatia were forced to labour to a draw against Morocco in their opener. At times the Vatreni looked sluggish against the North African nation and will need to steer away from complacency against a Canada side who impressed in spite of defeat against Belgium.
The Canadian’s finishing is what let them down on Wednesday night and with 22 shots (only three on target), more than Spain recorded in their 7-0 thrashing of Costa Rica, they desperately need to find their scoring boots this time around if they want to avoid world Cup defeat for the first time in their history.
Sportsman stat: Only El Salvador have played more games in the World Cup finals than Canada without avoiding defeat (six).
Betfred match odds: Croatia 23/20, Canada 13/5, draw 12/5
Both teams to score: Yes 5/6, No 5/6
Featured bet: Croatia and BTTS (No) - 12/5
To qualify from Group F: Croatia 4/6, Canada 5/2
Where: Al Bayt Stadium, Al Khor
When: 7pm (GMT) / 10pm (AST)
TV: BBC One, BBC iPlayer and BBC Sport website
Last meeting: Spain 6-0 Germany (Nations League, 2020)
Spain’s last five: Won 7-0 vs Costa Rica, Won 3-1 vs Jordan, Won 1-0 vs Portugal, Lost 1-2 vs Switzerland, Won 2-0 vs Czech Republic
Spain’s World Cup record: 16th finals appearance (Best: Winners, 2010) Total games: 64, Won 31, Drawn 15, Lost 18. Win percentage 48.43%
Germany's last five: Lost 1-0 vs Japan, Won 1-0 vs Oman, Drew 3-3 vs England, Lost 0-1 vs Hungary, Won 5-2 vs Italy
Germany’s World Cup record: 20th finals appearance (Best: Winners, 1954, 1974, 1990, 2014) Total games: 110, Won 67, Drawn 20, Lost 23. Win percentage 60.9%.
Spain squad: 1 Robert Sanchez, 2 Cesar Azpilicueta, 3 Eric Garcia, 4 Pau Torres, 5 Sergio Busquets, 6 Marcos Llorente, 7 Alvaro Morata, 8 Koke, 9 Gavi, 10 Marco Asensio, 11 Ferran Torres, 12 Nico Williams, 13 David Raya, 14 Alejandro Balde, 15 Hugo Guillamon, 16 Rodri, 17 Yeremy Pino, 18 Jordi Alba, 19 Carlos Soler, 20 Dani Carvajal, 21 Dani Olmo, 22 Pablo Sarabia, 23 Unai Simon, 24 Aymeric Laporte, 25 Ansu Fati, 26 Pedri
Germany squad: 1 Manuel Neuer, 2 Antonio Rudiger, 3 David Raum, 4 Matthias Ginter, 5 Thilo Kehrer, 6 Joshua Kimmich, 7 Kai Havertz, 8 Leon Goretzka, 9 Niclas Fullkrug, 10 Serge Gnabry, 11 Mario Gotze, 12 Kevin Trapp, 13 Thomas Muller, 14 Jamal Musiala, 15 Niklas Sule, 16 Lukas Klostermann, 17 Julian Brandt, 18 Jonas Hofmann, 19 Leroy Sane, 20 Christian Gunter, 21 Ilkay Gundogan, 22 Marc-Andre ter Stegen, 23 Nico Schlotterbeck, 24 Karim Adeyemi, 25 Armel Bella-Kotchap, 26 Youssoufa Moukoko
Preview: What a way to finish the day. Two titans of international football collide in Al Khor tonight and although this was already a tie that many fans would have had their eyes on before a ball was kicked at the tournament, opening day results have turned it into an utterly unmissable spectacle.
With Japan facing Costa Rica earlier on and expected to win, Die Mannschaft simply have to get a win against Spain following their shocking opening defeat. La Furia Roja looked scintillating in their opener against Costa Rica and given they thrashed Germany 6-0 the last time they met, the pressure is certainly on Hansi Flick if he wants to turn Germany into five-time champions.
Sportsman stat: Germany have lost three of the last four World Cup games, as many as they had in their previous 21.
Betfred match odds: Spain 11/8, Germany 19/10, draw 13/5
Both teams to score: Yes 4/7, No 5/4
Featured bet: Spain to win and BTTS (Yes) - 3/1
To qualify from Group E: Spain 1/20, Germany 13/8
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