Mexico and Japan will fight it out for the bronze medal in the third place playoff at Tokyo 2020 after falling in their respective semi final clashes. Hosts Japan lost 1-0 to Spain in extra time while Mexico held Brazil to a 0-0 draw before falling 4-1 on post match penalties. This will be the second time these two nations face off; Japan beat Mexico 2-1 at the group stage. The semi final clash against Brazil was the first time in this competition that Mexico failed to score. They have been the best attacking side so far, scoring 14 goals in their five matches though keeping just two clean sheets. In three of their five matches, they scored two or more goals but they conceded six goals in the five matches. Johan Felipe Vasquez was sent off in the loss to Japan but he returned in the semis and will be available for this game.
Japan started the competition well, and even advanced to the knockouts as one of the favorites, having won all three group matches. All their promise fizzled out though as the team entered the knockouts and going into this game they haven’t scored a goal in their last two matches. In the semi finals, a Marco Asensio goal in the 115th minute ended their chase for gold after drawing 0-0 in normal time. They did score seven times in their opening three matches of the competition but lately things haven’t worked out, despite having some of the top forwards around, including Real Madrid’s Takefusa Kubo. Japan have managed three clean sheets in their five matches here, and conceded only two goals.
Mexico have had arguably the best attack at this competition, but the same can’t be said of their defence. Japan will be pushing for a strong finish at home and will target Mexico’s defensive weaknesses but will be wary of the Mexicans’ attacking prowess. With this in mind, both teams scoring or over 2.5 goals look possible.