USA vs Japan Time, TV Channel, Live Stream, Lineups and Betting Odds for USMNT World Cup Tuneup Friendly

The US begins its final international window ahead of the 2022 FIFA World Cup with many unanswered questions.

Head coach Gregg Berhalter has told the media he has made decisions on about 23 of the players who will make the World Cup roster, but there are still a few spots up for grabs in the final 26-man roster. The competition for the central defender and forward positions will likely influence this final selection.

Friday’s match against fellow World Cup contenders Japan (ranked 24th in the world) presents a difficult match against an experienced and improved Asian team. Japan reached the round of 16 at the 2018 World Cup and were beaten by Belgium in a 3-2 defeat , giving Japan a 2-0 lead before collapsing late in the final 20 minutes.

Japan’s supporters expect the 2018 team to follow up on the knockout stages and even go one step further and reach the quarter-finals. But they also realize they will have a big task just getting out of their World Cup group: Germany, Spain and Costa Rica join Japan with only two teams progressing.

After that game, the United States will travel to Spain, where they meet Saudi Arabia on Tuesday. Japan stays in Düsseldorf and also meets Ecuador on Tuesday.

MORE: Expected 2022 USMNT World Cup roster and starting line-up

USA vs Japan TV Channel Live Stream

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: Friday’s pre-World Cup friendly from Dusseldorf, Germany will be broadcast in the US in both English (ESPN2) and Spanish (TUDN, UniMas), with both channels streaming on fuboTV.

Japan: In Japan, the friendly can be seen on Fuji TV, which will broadcast most of Japan’s national team matches, including the upcoming FIFA World Cup.

Cologne: where the exits are as smooth as the Kölsch 🍻 pic.twitter.com/iJc3WKo0D9

— United States Men’s National Soccer Team (@USMNT) September 20, 2022

Japan vs USA squad, line-ups and team news

USMNT manager Gregg Berhalter has already announced the starters for a handful of key positions. Matt Turner gets the goalkeeper bid and earns much-needed minutes as his club’s time at Arsenal is limited.

Turner will play behind the center-back pairing Aaron Long and Walker Zimmerman. Sam Reben is there for the injured Antonia Robinson on the left while Luca de la Torre is expected to start for the injured Yunus Musah in the midfield.

There is none in front Tim Weah due to injury in the squad, ie Brenden Aaronson and Gio Reyna should see time on the wing opposite Christian Pulisic.

USMNT predicted starting lineup (4-3-3): Turner (GK) – Dest, Zimmerman, Long, Reben – McKennie, Adams, De la Torre – Aaronson, Ferreira, Pulisic.

USMNT squad

Goalkeeper (3): Ethan Horvath (Luton Town), Sean Johnson (NYCFC), Matt Turner (Arsenal)

Defender (9): Reggie Cannon (Boavista), Sergino Dest (AC Milan), Aaron Long (New York Red Bulls), Mark McKenzie (Genk), Erik Palmer-Brown (Troyes), Joe Scally (Monchengladbach), Sam Vines (Royal Antwerp), DeAndre Yedlin (Inter Miami CF), Walker Zimmerman (Nashville SC)

Midfielder (6): Kellyn Acosta (LAFC), Tyler Adams (Leeds United), Johnny Cardoso (International), Luca de la Torre (Celta Vigo), Weston McKennie (Juventus), Malik Tillman (Rangers)

Forward (8): Brenden Aaronson (Leeds United), Paul Arriola (Dallas), Jesus Ferreira (Dallas), Jordan Morris (Seattle Sounders), Ricardo Pepi (Groningen), Christian Pulisic (Chelsea), Gio Reyna (Borussia Dortmund), Josh Sargent (Norwich City)

MORE: Who should be USA’s World Cup GC? | Will Pefok join the US squad?

Japan head coach Hijime Moriyasu hopes to use the game to help him decide on his two starting positions as a winger. Competition for right wing assertion includes Takefusa Kubo, Junya Itoand Ritsu Doanwhile Takumi Minamino and Kaoru Mitoma fight for the left side.

Schalke’s 34-year-old Maya Yoshidaprobably in his last World Cup cycle, will be dependent on defence, especially with the defender from Borussia Mönchengladbach Koh Itakura suffered a partial MCL tear that has put his World Cup appearance in doubt.

Other candidates for the centre-back include the Huddersfield Town starter Yuta Nakayama, Shogo Taniguchi J-League title contenders Kawasaki and Young Ayumu Seko the Grasshoppers, who have yet to earn their first cap. It’s Taniguchi, another centre-back Hiroki Ito Stuttgart, Celtic midfielder Reo Hatateand his club teammate Daizen Maeda who are believed to have the most to prove in this camp.

Japan predicted starting lineup (4-3-3): Gonda (GK) – Sakai, Yoshida, Tomiyasu, Nagatomo – Morita, Endo, Kamata – Kubo, Furuhashi, Mitoma

Japanese squad

Goalkeeper (4): Eiji Kawashima (Strasbourg), Shuichi Gonda (Shimizu S-Pulse), Daniel Schmidt (Sint-Truiden), Kosei Tani (Shonan Bellmare)

Defender (9): Miki Yamane (Kawasaki Frontale), Shogo Taniguchi (Kawasaki Frontale), Ayumu Seko (Grasshopper), Yuto Nagatomo (FC Tokyo), Takehiro Tomiyasu (Arsenal), Hiroki Sakai (Urawa Red Diamonds), Yuta Nakayama (Huddersfield Town), Maya Yoshida (Schalke), Hiroki Ito (Stuttgart)

Midfielder (13): Wataru Endo (Stuttgart), Gaku Shibasaki (Leganes), Genki Haraguchi (Union Berlin), Takumi Minamino (AS Monaco), Takefusa Kubo (Real Sociedad), Hidemasa Morita (Sporting CP), Junya Ito (Reims), Daichi Kamada (Eintracht ). Frankfurt), Ao Tanaka (Fortuna Düsseldorf), Kaoru Mitoma (Brighton), Ritsu Doan (Freiburg), Reo Hatate (Celtic), Yuki Soma (Nagoya Grampus)

Forward (4): Kyogo Furuhashi (Celtic), Daizen Maeda (Celtic), Ayase Ueda (Cercle Bruges), Shuto Machino (Shonan Bellmare).

SAMURAI BLUE start training camp in Dusseldorf, Germany #Soccer https://t.co/GfTcWdUIPV

— jfa_en (@jfa_en) September 21, 2022

USA vs Japan betting odds

Odds on Caesars in the US and Sports Interaction in Canada.

The betting options on this international friendly are understandably limited as it is difficult to know exactly how each team will approach the game. It is likely that both teams will not use their best players from the start as the head coaches look to give fringe players a chance to secure places in the World Cup squad.

Japan are slight favorites as they dominated Asia’s World Cup qualifiers and are a team believed to be better than those who reached the 2018 World Cup round of 16 and had Belgium on the ropes.