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Steffen Schmidt - August 3, 2023
Japan vs Norway
FIFA Women’s World Cup
Date: 5 August 2023, Saturday
Kick-off at 09:00 UK / 10:00 CET
Venue: Wellington Regional Stadium (Wellington).
Both Japan and Norway celebrated comprehensive wins in their final group stage affairs to set up a fantastic last 16 round tie on Saturday at Wellington Regional Stadium.
Japan were among the most impressive teams in the entire group phase, winning all three games with a goal difference of 11-0 along the way.
The last round’s 4-0 drubbing of Spain stands out as the biggest shock of the tournament as we know that La Furia Roja have arrived to Australia/New Zealand as one of the main title contenders.
This is, however, a tricky matchup for Japan as they are about to face Norway who have been one of the biggest disappointments of the competition so far.
However, we are still talking about Norway who possess a much broader experience and who are the former world champions from 1995.
This generation may not be the best we’ve seen from the Norwegians but one can still hardly underestimate them against any rival on the planet.
That said, we have to be say that Norway offered two horrendous showings without scoring a single goal in the clashes against New Zealand and Switzerland.
They only woke up in the third round with a 6-0 thumping of the Philippines to book their knockout phase ticket courtesy of a Sophie Haug hat-trick.
Japan left a much better impression in the group stage and the momentum is by all means on their side, especially if we add that they’ve beaten Norway in five of the last six head to head affairs.
It is very hard to look past Japan’s win at the 1.80 odds while we will alternatively back Hinata Miyazawa to score anytime for the Asian side at the attractive 3.20 odds. Miyazawa bagged two goals and delivered an assist in the 4-0 drubbing of Spain on Monday.
