Favourites France take on Japan in battle for top spot
Having begun their FIFA U-17 World Cup campaigns with comprehensive wins, France and Japan start on an even keel in a group E encounter here. Former champions France thrashed debutants New Caledonia 7-1 with star striker Amine Gouiri scoring twice while Japan drubbed Honduras 6-1 with Keito Nakamura netting the tournament’s first hat-trick.
Both sides will be high on confidence with an aim to come out all guns blazing. It will be difficult to predict the result of the match but whoever wins will have a smooth passage to the round of 16 with a match left in the group.
Both France and Japan were the favourites to make it to the knockout rounds from the group and the loser in Wednesday’s match will still be in contention.
There is not much of a gap between France and Japan. The ‘Les Bleus’ juniors have come here in India not as automatic four qualifiers in the European Championships but after a playoff between two best losing quarter-finalists.
France simply toyed with New Caledonia in their first match,
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almost scoring at will in the first session though they relaxed a bit in the second half.
With Gouiri in fine form the Japanese defenders will be a busy lot and will be tested to the limit for the first time in the tournament. Similarly, the French defenders will have a measure of their strength when they faced the likes of Nakamura and ‘Japanese Messi’ Takefusa Kubo who scored once against Honduras.
Japan, on the other hand, are one of the technically best sides in Asia and will be a handful for France. They have the speed, technique and more experience than France at this stage. They are featuring in their eighth U-17 World Cup, having reached the quarter-finals on two occasions.
After missing qualification for the 2015 FIFA U-17 World Cup in Chile, Japan impressed at the 2016 AFC U-16 Championship, earning a ticket to India 2017 by reaching the semifinals.