Japan vs Chile Predictions

Can reigning Copa America champions Chile kick things off with a victory against Japan? They are aiming to defend the title they won three years ago, especially with the backbone of that successful side heading towards their final days in international football. On top of that, they are aiming to make up for a dismal World Cup qualification campaign, but can they return to their best in Brazil this summer?

Japan have been invited to the Copa America for the first time in 20 years, as they look to build on a decent start to 2019. Overall we’ve seen a good 12 months for Japanese football. They made the last 16 at the last World Cup, nearly eliminating Belgium in the opening knockout round. They made it to the final of the 2019 Asian Cup, losing to Qatar in the final to miss out on silverware. Now they are sending an experimental side to Brazil aiming to follow up that success.

Chile are coming from a 2-1 win over Haiti in their last international, a victory after a tough spell for them. They failed to make the top five in the race for Russia, which saw them sitting at home last summer. That comes after a historic period for them, which brought back to back Copa America successes in 2015 and 2016. Now they want to make it three in a row, but after a couple of difficult years their ageing squad may not be able to compete with the very best.

Chile do have clear issues in defence, as they’ve got a real generation gap. Their most experienced four – Gary Medel, Gonzalo Jara, Mauricio Isla and Jean Beausejour – have 441 caps between them and a combined age of 130. Following them are a string of younger options, with 45 caps to their name between four of them. That’s left Chile without the necessary blend of youth and experience. They’re clearly struggling to find it, having conceded in their last five matches. As they make the step up to an international tournament we see them struggling again.

Meanwhile, Japan head here with a squad almost entirely made up of youth players. They’ve relied on younger talents for this tournament, choosing to take only three players above the age of 25. They’ve got 16 uncapped stars, but they do have forward Shinji Okazaki who has hit 50 international goals. We think Japan have enough about them to score against a leaky Chile side, but the defending champions have the obvious advantage when contrasting the two sides. With Chile unbeaten in 11 of their last 12 in this competition – winning four of their last five – we’re backing them to claim a win but concede in this clash.