World Cup 2022: Japan vs. Costa Rica head-to-head record

Off the back of contrasting results in their respective 2022 FIFA World Cup opening fixtures, Japan and Costa Rica lock horns at the Ahmad bin Ali Stadium on Sunday.

Hajime Moriyasu's men saw off the threat of Germany in a superb 2-1 victory, while Costa Rica were on the receiving end of a 7-0 thrashing against Spain.

This weekend's meeting between Japan and Costa Rica will be the sixth meeting between them since they first went head-to-head in 1995.

However, it will be only a first competitive encounter involving the sides, with the previous five clashes coming in international friendlies.

Japan remain unbeaten against Luis Fernando Suarez's men, who have only managed to avoid defeat on one occasion, which was a 1-1 stalemate back in 2002.

Bryan Oviedo put the ball past his own keeper in the most recent edition of Sunday's fixture after which Takumi Minamino and Junya Ito put the game to bed in a 3-0 triumph.

Before then, Yasuhito Endo, Shinji Kagawa and Yoichiro Kakitani were all on target in the second half to cancel out Bryan Ruiz's opener and complete a spectacular turnaround eight years ago.

That was the second of three straight wins for Japan in this fixture, and the Asians will be looking to continue their already established dominance over their North Americans counterparts.

JAPAN VS. COSTA RICA HEAD-TO-HEAD RECORD

Japan wins: 4 Costa Rica wins: 0 Draws: 1 Japan goals: 13 Costa Rica goals: 3

MATCH HISTORY

August 06, 1995: Japan 3-0 Costa Rica (Friendly) April 17, 2002: Japan 1-1 Costa Rica (Friendly) June 01, 2014: Japan 3-1 Costa Rica (Friendly) June 02, 2014: Japan 3-1 Costa Rica (Friendly) September 11, 2018: Japan 3-0 Costa Rica (Friendly)

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