Japan W vs Sweden W prediction: WORLD: World Cup Women – Play Offs betting tips on match 2023-08-10 07:30.
Japan continue to impress at the FIFA Women’s World Cup (WWC) after strolling into the quarter-finals with a 3-1 win over Norway in the round of 16. That was the only goal the Nadeshiko have conceded in this tournament so far, while their tally of 14 goals scored is already their highest, beating their previous best from the 2011 edition (12), a campaign which saw them lift the trophy. Adding to the feelgood factor, they brushed aside next opponents Sweden 3-1 in the semis during that tournament win!
Manager Futoshi Ikeda stressed that Japan “have become even tougher” after the Norway game, praising the team effort. Although he chose not to single out a specific player for praise, their tournament top scorer Hinata Miyazawa (G5) is leading the Golden Boot race coming into the quarter-finals and could be key to their chances of progression, as they bid to reach a third semi-final in four WWC editions.
Sweden, third-place finishers in 2019, will look to play spoilsport though, riding on their own momentum after topping Group G with a perfect record and then knocking defending champions USA out in the round of 16 via penalties. The Scandinavians had to wait for VAR to confirm that their final spot-kick went over the line, with the scorer of that goal, Lina Hurtig, candidly admitting it feels good “to walk away with a win in a game where we didn’t play our best football”.
Blågult have their work cut out against the in-form Japanese, but they have defeated their upcoming opponents twice in three WWC H2Hs (L1), including an 8-0 win in 1991. A win by any margin would be huge for the Swedish however, and considering their run of nine wins in their last 11 WWC matches (L2), they can be quietly confident of success at Auckland’s Eden Park.
Key battle: Fridolina Rolfö scored two of Sweden’s first four goals at this tournament and assisted twice in a 3-1 H2H win in the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo. Her task could be made tougher by Ayaka Yamashita in the Japan goal, who has conceded just once across her last five games, although it came in the latest match against Norway.
Hot stat: Seven of Japan’s last eight WWC knockout matches have seen both teams score and produce over 2.5 goals.