AFC Asian Cup: Japan vs Vietnam Preview, Head-To-Head, Lineup, Live Streaming and Telecast

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AFC Asian Cup, Japan vs Vietnam: Record four-time champions Japan will start their campaign in the AFC Asian Cup 2023 on Sunday (January 14) as they face World No. 94 Vietnam in the opening Group D match at Al Thumama Stadium in Doha.

The highest-ranking team of the tournament Japan (17) are among the big favourites to win the title and will be a tough challenge for the Southeast Asian nation, who made a dream run at the 2019 edition before losing out to Japan 1-0 in the quarterfinals.

Match: Japan vs Vietnam
Kick-off time: 2:30 PM local time; 8:30 PM (Tokyo); 6:30 PM (Hanoi)
Location: Al Rayyan
Stadium: Al Thumama Stadium
Capacity: 44,400
Date: January 14, 2024

Japan vs Vietnam: Head-to-Head Record

This will be the 6th encounter between Japan and Vietnam at the senior level with their latest encounter coming back in 2022 during the FIFA World Cup Qualifiers, which ended 1-1. Nguyen Thanh Binh scored for Vietnam in that game while Maya Yoshida scored for Japan. Thanh Binh is also part of the current Vietnam squad.

Matches Played in all competitions: 5
Vietnam Win: 0
Japan Win: 4
Draws: 1
Vietnam Goals: 3
Japan Goals: 8

Japan vs Vietnam Preview

With a team that includes players from several of Europe's top divisions, Japan is strongly favored to win a fifth championship, which would set a record. In 1992, Japan won their first-ever Asian Cup title after defeating Saudi Arabia 1-0 in the championship match. Takuya Takagi played a crucial part in the victory, scoring the game-winning goal in the 36th minute.

They had to wait nearly ten years for their second championship, but in 2000 they succeeded when Shigeyoshi Mochizuki's goal in the opening half of the game helped them defeat the Green Falcons 1-0 once more.

The Samurai Blue proved to be formidable once more in 2023, having only dropped a match since exiting the 2022 World Cup in the Round of 16. They had also recently triumphed over Germany, Canada, and Turkey.

Japan has now won nine games in a row. Although the current squad may appear inexperienced at first, The Samurai Blue have been producing impressive results practically effortlessly, and they appear to be the team to beat based on form in the run-up to the competition.

Japan vs Vietnam: Predicted Lineup

Japan: Daiya Maekawa (GK); Takehiro Tomiyasu, Koki Machida, Yukinari Sugawara, Hiroko Ito; Wataru Endo (C), Hidemasa Morita, Junya Ito, Takefusa Kubo, Takuma Asano; Ayesa Ueda

Manager: Hajime Moriyasu

Vietnam: Nguyen Dinh Trieu; Nguyen Thanh Binh, Vu Van Thanh, Phan Tuan Tai, Bui Hoang Viet Anh; Vo Min Trong, Le Pham Thanh Long, Nguyen Quang Hai, Nguyen Van Toan; Phạm Tuan Hai, Do Hung Dung

Manager: Philippe Troussier

Japan vs Vietnam: Live Streaming and Telecast
Live Streaming: DAZN (Japan); FPT (Vietnam)
Telecast: TV Asahi (Japan); FPT, VTV (Vietnam)