Germany vs Japan

Wolfsburg’s Volkswagen Arena forms the backdrop for an exciting international friendly between Germany and Japan.

As the Euro 2024 host nation, Germany have automatically qualified for the tournament, but that’s probably the only silver lining for Hansi Flick’s out-of-form side. Since beating Peru 2-0 in their first friendly after a humiliating group stage exit at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, ‘Die Mannschaft’ have gone winless in four consecutive internationals (D1, L3), conceding multiple goals on three occasions. Without Werder Bremen striker Niclas Füllkrug, Flick has reached out to his former Bayern Munich associate Thomas Muller to fill the vacancy in the center-forward role and help Germany arrest a two-game scoreless run! The Germans slumped to a dreadful 2-0 home loss to Colombia last time out, maintaining their dismal spell of form on home soil (W1, D1, L3).

Meanwhile, Japan did one better than their hosts at the Qatar showpiece, as they at least made it out of the group stages, only for Croatia to beat them on penalties in the round of 16. The ‘Samurai Blue’ took their time to mentally recover from such a disappointing end to their World Cup journey, going winless in back-to-back friendlies since leaving the Middle East (D1, L1). However, Hajime Moriyasu’s men are back on track with a brace of multi-goal margin wins over El Salvador and Peru, both of which saw them score 4+ goals and concede one or fewer. Delivering action from the onset, they’ve netted 2+ first-half goals on both occasions, suggesting a quick-fire start could be on the cards.