This will be the first of two pre World Cup warm-up games for the USMNT, who will first take on Japan in Germany on Friday, September 23rd.

With the latest iteration of the World Cup just around the corner, many of the teams making the trip to Qatar will be focused on fine-tuning their preparations ahead of the big event. Both the USMNT and Japan will be involved in the highly-anticipated tournament, and thus, will square off in a friendly match on Thursday, with Germany's Merkur Spiel-Arena, which is based in Duesseldorf, serving as the venue.

The Stars and Stripes and the Samurai Blue will be meeting for the third time, with this match being the first that has been played at a neutral ground. So far, each side has picked up one win, and this will be the first meeting since Team USA won 3-2 back on February 10, 2006. The first ever match saw Japan run out as 3-1 winners back in March1993, and given that it has been over 16 years since their last meeting, anything is certainly possible when two entirely new squads square off on Thursday.

Gregg Berhalter's side come into this match in solid form, having lost just one of their last eight matches across all comps. Under Berhalter's guidance, the USA, who infamously missed out on the 2018 World Cup, have won both the Gold Cup and the CONCACAF Nations League and qualified for the 2022 World Cup having boasted one of the youngest teams during the qualification process.

Meanwhile, Japan have also been in pretty strong form since Hajime Moriyasu took over in July 2018. Under the former midfielder's tenure, the Samurai Blue have posted a record of 38-10-7, and finished as runners-up at the 2019 Asian Cup. After enduring disappointment at the 2018 World Cup, during which Japan were unfortunately eliminated by Belgium in the round of 16 - despite taking a 2-0 lead - Moriyasu will be aiming to build on the team's good form and help them go as far in the upcoming World Cup as possible.

Specifically, Japan have outscored their last three opponents by 9-0, and recently won the East Asian Cup by beating South Korea 3-0 this past July, which is their first major title in over a decade. They are currently the top ranked team in Asia at the moment, and while the USMNT could pose a stern challenge, Japan certainly do have the quality players to potentially hold their own in the first meeting between these two nations in nearly two decades. 

Team news: Japan vs USMNT

Japan: No notable absences for Japan ahead of this match.

USMNT: Yunus Musah, Chris Richards and Cameron Carter-Vickers have all sustained injuries, meaning that Berhalter has had to make some last minute changes by adding Johnny Cardoso, Mark McKenzie and Erik Palmer-Brown to replace them. However, shot-stopper Zack Steffen remains out with a knee injury.  

Match facts: Japan vs USMNT

  • Japan and the USA have met two times prior, with a win for the Samurai Blue in 1993 followed by a victory for the Stars and Stripes in 2006
  • The USA has a record of 15-12-7 against teams from the AFC (Asian Football Confederation)
  • Japan are set to appear at their seventh consecutive World Cup since making their debut in 1998
  • The USA are ranked 14th as per FIFA's latest rankings, while Japan are 24th

Broadcast info: Japan vs USMNT

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Match details, result and original broadcast info

Japan 2 - 0 USA

September 23, 2022 8:25amMerkur Spiel-Arena (Düsseldorf)

This match has ended. Below are the original Live broadcast details for this match.

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