World champions Spain Women will go toe-to-toe with Japan Women in Thursday’s encounter at the Stade de la Beaujoire – Louis Fonteneau.
La Roja are set to make their Olympic debut, while Japan is preparing to make their sixth appearance in the competition.
Last year, Spain clinched their first trophy in women’s football with a 2-1 victory over England in the 2023 World Cup final. La Roja went on to claim another piece of silverware earlier this year when they won the inaugural edition of the UEFA Women’s Nations League.
Spain then turned their attention to Euro 2025 qualifying, where they won five of their six matches to top a group featuring Denmark, Belgium and the Czech Republic.

With a place in Switzerland secured, Spain will now attempt to become the fifth different country to win the women’s football event at the Olympics.
La Roja will be determined to get off to a positive start on Thursday, especially as they look to avenge the 4-0 defeat they suffered to Japan in the group stage of the 2023 World Cup.
While Japan may have topped their World Cup group, their journey came to an end with a 2-1 defeat to Sweden in the quarterfinals.
They will hope to go further in this competition as they go in search of their first Olympic medal since winning silver at the London games in 2012. On that occasion, Japan claimed knockout-round victories over Brazil and France, before they suffered a narrow 2-1 loss to the USA in the final.
Japan failed to qualify for the next Olympics in 2016, but they were involved in their home tournament in 2021, progressing from the group before losing 3-1 to Sweden.

In preparation for the Paris games, Futoshi Ikeda’s side have been involved in four friendlies, which has seen them claim consecutive wins over New Zealand, cruise to a 4-0 win over Ghana and play out a 1-1 draw with Colombia.
Spain Women vs. Japan Women odds
According to the bookmakers, Spain Women are favoured to win this match with a 64.50% probability of victory, while the Japanese team has lower odds at 17.40%.
Team News
After a nearly two-year absence, Patri Guijarro has returned to the Spain national team. She had previously declared herself unavailable due to a dispute between 15 players and the Royal Spanish Football Federation. Guijarro may be joined in midfield by two of her Barcelona teammates, Aitana Bonmati and Alexia Putellas.
The frontline is expected to feature Real Madrid’s Athenea del Castillo and Eva Navarro, along with Barcelona’s Salma Paralluelo.
As for their opponents, seven members of their squad play in the Women’s Super League, while the remaining players are from clubs in Japan, Italy, Netherlands, Sweden, and the USA. Ikeda’s lineup is likely to consist of Risa Shimizu, Hana Takahashi, Saki Kumagai, Moeka Minami, and Hikaru Kitagawa as a back five. Up top, Utah Royals’ Mina Tanaka will most likely lead the attack.
Spain Women possible starting lineup: Coll; Batlle, Codina, Aleixandri, Carmona; Bonmati, Guijarro, Putellas; Del Castillo, Navarro, Paralluelo
Japan Women possible starting lineup: Yamashita; Shimizu, Takahashi, Kumagai, Minami, Kitagawa; Miyazawa, Hasegawa, Fujino, Nagano; Tanaka
Predication
Last year at the World Cup, Japan showcased their tactical prowess by defeating Spain 4-0 despite only having 23% possession. As they face each other again, I anticipate Spain to once again dominate the ball, but this time with a more effective approach that will result in a close victory for La Roja.
Feature image courtesy of DREAMTIME.
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