U23 Japan showed superiority over Paraguay, Mali and Israel in Group D. They are one of two teams to win all three 2024 Olympic group stage matches , along with host U23 France.
Coach Oiwa's squad is also on par with France in goal index (7) and has not conceded any goals. The Green Samurai will be determined to find the first medal.
Because in previous Olympics, their best performance was 4th place at London 2012 and Tokyo 2020. With performances like the past, the goal of getting a medal is very feasible.
On the other side, Spain U23 won against Uzbekistan and the Dominican Republic in the group stage, before losing to Egypt. Therefore, coach Santi Denia's team only ranked second in the group and had to immediately meet a difficult opponent in the quarterfinals.
At the Tokyo Olympics 3 years ago, the two teams met each other. Marco Asensio's extra-time goal led La Roja to a 1-0 victory in the semi-finals, before winning the silver medal overall. In the 2012 group stage, the Spanish Olympic team suffered a minimal defeat against Japan.
Spain's loss to Egypt is not too worrying, because they made a lot of changes to the squad. Denia's key players have been fully rested and that will be an advantage for the European representative in this match.
Probable teams:
Japan U23: Kokubo; Nishio, Suzuki, Kimura, Uchino; Yamamoto, Kawasaki; Yamada, Hosoya, Sato; Fujio
Spain U23: Tenas; Sanchez, Cubarsi, Garcia, Miranda; Lopez, Barrios, Baena; Oroz, Ruiz, Gomez
