Overview
Scotland won a ticket to the World Cup for the first time in 28 years thanks to their emotional performance in the "final" of Group C, when they defeated direct opponent Denmark at Hampden Park.
In a dramatic night, Scott McTominay's spectacular comeback created an important turning point, before Denmark equalized twice making the match suffocating. However, Kieran Tierney and Kenny McLean's goals in injury time helped Scotland win, igniting enthusiastic celebrations across the country.
After a journey of nearly three decades of waiting, coach Steven Clarke is now aiming to build an experienced team to compete in the finals, where they will face Brazil, Morocco and Haiti.
In the process of preparation, Scotland will successively face Japan this weekend, before meeting Ivory Coast at Liverpool. Their recent record is also quite positive with 8 wins in the last 12 matches, showing a clear improvement after the previous period of decline.
Despite just defeating Liechtenstein 4-0 in the most recent friendly match, Scotland still has a problem to solve. They have not won at home in 10 matches since 2016. The upcoming match is therefore also an opportunity for them to end this forgettable streak of form.
On the opposite side, Japan has shown more impressive form in recent friendly matches, with victories against notable opponents such as Brazil, Ghana and Bolivia. Coach Hajime Moriyasu's team has also made a splash when winning 5/6 recent matches against European representatives, including large victories 4-1 against Germany and 4-2 against Turkey.
Not only that, the "Green Samurai" also had a very convincing AFC qualifying campaign when they won 23 points after 10 matches, averaging 3 goals per match and only conceding 3 times. They even advanced early to advance before three rounds.
Continuing their high form, Japan has scored 9 more goals in the last 3 friendly matches and is aiming to maintain excitement before entering the World Cup group with the Netherlands, Tunisia and the winning team of the European play-offs.
Currently, during the tour in England, Japan will face Scotland for the fourth time in history. The previous three encounters witnessed two goalless draws and a 2-0 victory in favor of the Asian representative.
Personnel situation
Scotland national team head coach Steve Clarke will be without winger Ben Doak due to injury. However, he has recalled right-back Nathan Patterson of Everton and midfielder Billy Gilmour of Napoli, after both recovered.
In the opposite direction, key players such as Scott McTominay and Aston Villa captain John McGinn are ready to return after injury. Notably, McTominay has scored 14 goals for the national team, but has not yet scored in friendly matches.
On the Japanese side, goalkeeper Zion Suzuki has returned after a serious hand injury. However, the away team suffered heavy losses when a series of key players such as Itakura, Takehiro Tomiyasu, Takefusa Kubo, Takumi Minamino and captain Wataru Endo were absent due to injury.
Endo himself has just undergone an ankle surgery and is racing against time to be in time for the World Cup.
Expected lineup:
Scotland: Gunn, Ralston, Souttar, Hanley, Robertson, Ferguson, Gilmour, McGinn, McTominay, Christie, Adams.
Japan: Z. Suzuki, Watanabe, J. Suzuki, Taniguchi, Doan, Sano, Kamada, Nakamura, Kubo, Mitoma, Ueda.
The match between Scotland and Japan takes place at 0:00 AM on March 29 (Vietnam time).
