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This is quite the story because Japan managed to top Group D in convincing fashion with three wins from three, whilst Spain ended up finishing as runners’ up and leaving themselves in a precarious position after a final match day loss to Egypt.
KICK-OFF DATE/TIME: Friday 2nd August, 2024, UK – 4:00pm / US ET – 11:00am / US PT – 8:00am
HOW TO WATCH THE PARIS OLYMPICS ON TV: UK – BBC is the main broadcaster while some event will be televised on Eurosport / US – NBC is the main broadcaster while some events will be shown on NBCSN, CNBC, USA Network and Telemundo
HOW TO WATCH THE PARIS OLYMPICS ONLINE: UK – BBC iPlayer, the BBC Sport website & Eurosport Player / US – Events can be streamed on the relevant streaming platforms of NBCSN, CNBC, USA Network and Telemundo
JAPAN PREVIEW: FLYING THROUGH
Japan began their Olympic campaign in excellent style when they took advantage of Paraguay going down to ten men inside 25 minutes but the east Asians did not get complacent and demolished the South Americans by five goals to nil.
It was tougher in their second match when they had to wait for an 82nd minute winner in a 1-0 defeat of Mali before then scoring a 91st minute winner against an Israeli side that had to win to go through.
SPAIN PREVIEW: COMPLACENCY OF LA ROJA
Coached by Santi Denia, Spain decided to make a few changes for their final game against Egypt because they had won their opening two and were already through. However, a 2-1 loss to the north Africans meant they were demoted to the runners’ up position.
The likes of Fermin Lopez and Alex Baena, who played at UEFA EURO 2024, were rightly rested for that game but it is now a tricker route for the Spanish to take Olympic gold. They still have an excellent squad given the circumstances.
JAPAN VS SPAIN PREDICTION
Japan will probably be quite frustrated and annoyed to have won their group with seven goals scored, none conceded and three successive victories only to face one of the pre-tournament favourites in Spain in the last eight. Against eleven players, Japan have struggled to break teams down and that is likely to be the case once again against a Spanish team unlikely to relinquish possession too much so backing a low-scoring Spain win seems a good bet for this one.
JAPAN VS SPAIN TIP: SPAIN TO WIN & UNDER 3.5 GOALS