😮 Tuchel should be warned! Japan are Europe's bogey team | OneFootball

If Thomas Tuchel faces Japan with the England national team on Tuesday, he should be warned and not underestimate the opponent. At first glance, that sounds like a classic cliché about keeping expectations low, but in Japan’s case it is absolutely true. 

The national team is something of Europe’s current bogey side. Since 2019, Japan have gone unbeaten against European teams — at least if you only count the score after 90 minutes. Just yesterday, they beat Scotland 1-0 in a friendly. In 2023, the result was even more emphatic in the friendly against Germany (4-1). 

At the 2022 World Cup, they beat Germany and Spain, among others. Against Croatia, the round-of-16 match was 1-1 after 90 minutes. Japan were only knocked out in the penalty shootout. 

The last time the Japanese national team lost was in the round of 16 at the 2018 World Cup against Belgium (2-3). At the upcoming tournament in the USA, Canada and Mexico, their first match will be against the Netherlands. Let’s see whether Japan are still unbeaten by then. Ronald Koeman will no doubt be watching closely in the friendly against England.  

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇩🇪 here.

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