Germany v Japan World Cup Group E Betting Guide

The Teams’ Routes to the World Cup

Germany

Drawn in Group J of the UEFA World Cup qualification round, Germany proved they are back on song. Their group consisted of North Macedonia, Iceland, Romania, Liechtenstein and Armenia. With 10 games to play in a round-robin league format Germany only slipped up once to North Macedonia losing 2 – 1 in a home fixture. Scoring abundantly with 36 goals to their credit they only conceded 4 times. Can this be the beginning of a German revival for a team that consistently performs in the World Cup?

Japan

The Japanese national team had it rather easy in the second round of the Asian Football Confederation qualifying group. Playing 8 games home and away they won them all against Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia and Myanmar scoring 46 goals and conceding 2. In the third round, they finished second in a group of 6 to qualify for the 2022 World Cup finals. Japan finished closely behind Saudi Arabia but well ahead of Australia winning 7, drawing 1 and losing 2 games.

Germany and Japan have only played two competitive international matches. Germany won 1 and the other game ended in a draw. Both matches were international friendlies and the last time the two teams met the game ended 2 – 2.

Current Odds at mr.play

Check out our goal markets here at mr.play where you have the opportunity to place a bet against the winning margins of any game during the World Cup. This fantastic betting option provides you with seven different outcomes for each match. Let us take a look at the current pricing examples for Germany v Japan. Most people may look at this fixture and think Germany will win easily. Current odds for Germany to win by a goal margin of greater than two has odds of 117/50. However, maybe you think an upset is on the cards and decide Japan will win by one goal with a price of 131/20. Or you might think Japan will create a major upset and win by more than two goals where you can obtain odds at 167/4. Keep your eye on the changing odds here at mr.play in this exciting Group E fixture.

Team Overviews & Player Profiles

Germany

A man that has a major understanding of German international football is Hansi Flick, who will take the Germans into the 2022 World Cup finals. He was the assistant manager of the German team from 2006 - 2014 under Joachim Löw and went on to manage Bayern Munich. Taking control of Bayern, he was the second manager to achieve a continental treble when they were crowned UEFA Champions League winners and he also guided them to 2 Bundesliga titles. Awarded UEFA men’s coach of the year in 2019/2020 he went to become the German national manager in 2021. He was the 3rd German national coach to remain undefeated in his first ten fixtures in charge and has a current record of 13 matches with 9 wins and 4 draws with a win ratio of 69.23%.

The high work rate of the Japanese will mean Manuel Neuer will have to maintain full concentration and marshal his defence for Germany when playing between the sticks. The goalkeeper is captain of his national side and also for Bayern Munich. With Bayern Munich, he has won the Bundesliga 10 times and is a 2-time winner of the UEFA Champions League. At 6ft 4in (193cm) he is a sweeper/keeper with outstanding reflexes and shot-stopping ability. He was nominated goalkeeper of the decade between 2011 and 2020 and won the World Cup with Germany in 2014 being nominated as the goalkeeper of the tournament. Playing 113 times for his country he is the 6th most capped player to have represented Germany. The Germans will be gunning for a clean sheet in their opening group fixture against Japan.

Japan

The man in charge of the Japanese national team is Hajime Moriyasu. He made his way along the path to management by making over 300 appearances in the J1 Japanese top flight and making 35 appearances as a midfielder for the national team. After retiring he turned to management and won the J1 league in 2012, 2013 and 2015 with Sanfrecce Hiroshima while picking up the manager of the year award. During his tenure with Japan, he has an impressive win percentage of 69.23% having managed 52 games winning 36, drawing 6 and losing 10 matches.

The manager will be looking for his experienced players to step up and lead the players against Germany. Maya Yoshida will have this weight on his shoulders with the 33-year-old national team captain having made 119 international appearances, scoring 12 goals. This makes Yoshida the joint 4th most Japanese capped player of all time. During his playing career, he has made over 100 appearances for Southampton and has recently signed for Schalke 04. Representing Japan, he won the AFC Asian Cup in 2011 and was in the AFC Asian Cup team of the tournament in 2019.

A Clash of Managers with a Flare for Tactics

Two hugely experienced managers have two massively experienced leaders on the pitch. With Germany playing Japan in this opening group game, tactics and intelligence may prove to be the winning formula in what may be a nervous opening match in Group E. You can take your time in the lead-up to the 2022 World Cup to check out all our betting markets for Germany versus Japan right here at mr.play.