Toll Free: 1-888-759-2665Backup: 1-888-740-1958 

Match Preview: Japan vs Senegal, Group H, June 24

On Sunday June 24th the World Cup Group H matchup between Senegal and Japan takes place at 11am Eastern in Ekaterinburg, Russia. Originally underdogs in this group, both of these teams pulled off upsets in their first game and turned this group on its head. Now with legitimate chances to advance, this game has gone from low stakes to high stakes in deciding who advances out of this group to the round of 16. For more information on odds for this game, be sure to check out our World Cup betting odds.

Japan

Japan is coming off what may be the biggest upset of the group stage so far, having beat Colombia 2-1. Predicted by everyone to finish last in the group, they now sit in first after the first round of group games. In a complete reversal of what everyone expected this game to be, Japan outshot the Colombians 14-8 and held possession of the ball for 62% of the game. They looked poised and organized, especially for a team that underwent a coaching change just prior to the Cup. Vahid Halilhodzic was let go only two months before the start of the World Cup and replaced by Akira Nishino. With the turnover, nobody really knew what to expect out of Japan, which seems to have given them an advantage in the element of surprise.

Senegal

While Senegal's upset against Poland wasn't quite as impressive as what Japan pulled off against Colombia, they still turned quite a few heads on Tuesday. Fans are starting to recognize that this is a team that can do some real damage. Senegal has only one other World Cup appearance in its history in 2002 when they made it to the quarter finals. It took another ten years or so for the team to achieve anything of note, but after a quarter finals appearance at the 2017 Africa Cup of Nations and a successful 2018 World Cup qualifying run, Senegal is back in the picture as a major soccer nation.

With last Tuesday's win, Senegal was able to continue a long winning streak leading up to the World Cup. They were undefeated in qualifying and spread the scoring out among 8 different players. Dating back to March of 2017, Senegal has only lost two matches, making for a 8-9-2 record in that time. Now they can not only talk realistically about advancing past the group stage, but also claiming the first place spot.

Match Overview

Japan and Senegal have played three other times in history, with Senegal taking the most recent matchups in 2003 and 2001. The other matchup was a draw in 1987. For Japan to break the trend and get a win, they will need a tremendous effort from all parts of the field, and will need to extinguish the fire that is Sadio Mane, who is coming off an excellent year with Liverpool. Both of these teams have a great deal of momentum on their side, and it will be interesting to see how this game plays out.

$10,000 in Prizes + 100% Cash Bonus

Group Phase