Women’s World Cup: Who Will Top Group C?

Japan vs Spain

Japan and Spain meet at the Wellington Regional Stadium on Monday in a Group C decider after both teams won their opening two games.

On Wednesday, they became the first two nations to qualify for the knockout phase, and the winner in Wellington will top the group. Spain are ahead on goal difference and have been hugely impressive, so much so that La Roja are now joint favourites alongside USA to win the tournament.

The winner of this match will face the runners up from Group A, while the loser will face the Group A top team. And that group is wide open after the Philippines recorded a brilliant victory over New Zealand on Thursday.

From the outset, the Women’s World Cup has delivered some superb action, and this match will certainly get the fans off their seats again. 

Spain boss Jorge Vilda wants to lead Spain to glory for the first time in their history, while his opposite number, Futoshi Ikeda, is coaching a team which were World Champions in 2011.

Talking Points

Spain welcome back Putellas

The Women’s World Cup 2023 betting odds have taken a shift towards Spain after La Roja swept Zambia and Costa Rica aside 5-0 and 3-0, and the return of a key player looks set to increase Spain’s momentum.

We picked out Alexia Putellas as a player who could provide more than her share of Women’s World Cup 2023 highlights, and Spain fans were delighted to see her in the starting line up against Zambia on Wednesday.

She’s thought by many to be the best player in the world, but she has been out of international action for this year, making an appearance in a friendly 7-0 win over Panama in June. 

The back-to-back Ballon D’Or winner scored against Panama and was back to her best against Zambia, pulling the strings and inspiring her team on to another stunning performance.

Putellas has her sights on the main prize.      

Japan hope to return to former glories

Japan have beaten Zambia 5-0 and Costa Rica 2-0 so they are not far behind their opponents at all, and Ikeda has put together a team determined to bring past glories back to the nation.

After hammering Zambia, the Japanese coasted past Costa Rica as Hikaru Naomoto and Aoba Fujino scored in an explosive three-minute period in the first half. 

This is a young squad with 29-year-old Mina Tanaka the oldest forward. She is her nation’s top scorer with 24 international goals and, in the prime of her career, she has developed into an all-around striker with big game experience.

She is strong and fast and can shoot with both feet and Tanaka has been the top scorer in the Japan League four times, and she scored on her international debut against Germany 10 years ago.

Tanaka is the leader of this new generation in Japan and, like Putellas, she will inspire her teammates to be the very best they can.   

History

Japan were the team of the 2010’s, certainly the first half of that decade, as the Nadeshiko were crowned World Champions in 2011, beating USA in the final and being the last nation to hold that honour before the Stars and Stripes took over.

Alongside Norway and Germany, Japan are one of only four teams to win the world title, and they were also silver medallists at the 2012 London Olympics.

12 years on, Japan are struggling to emulate the heroes of the past and exited the 2019 World Cup in the Round of 16 and stumbled to a quarter-final appearance in their home Olympics in 2021.

While Spain are powerful now, they are relatively new to the higher echelons of women’s football, with their best performance being a Round of 16 appearance in 2019. But this Roja team is the best ever, and 2023 could be their year.      

These two teams have met four times, and Spain have won three and drawn the other. They came together in November and Spain won with the only goal of the game scored by Alba Redondo.

Both nations are in superb form. Japan have won five from their last six games and are on a winning run of three, while Spain have won their last eight games.

Betting Tip

At SBOTOP odds of 3.35, the Japanese are well in this game and so is the draw at 3.06.

Japan are still a force in the game, ranked 11^th in the world by FIFA, but La Roja are upwardly mobile, placed sixth in the rankings. 

A scoreline of 1-0 to Spain is the shortest price at 4.55, but I suspect the rampant Roja will win this final game comfortably and go into the knockout phase on the crest of a wave.   

 

●●●

CHECK OUT OUR BLOG FOR MORE FOOTBALL STORIES & ODDS

Stay updated with everything sports and betting.

Follow us on social Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube.