United States vs. Japan: Updated Odds and Championship Predictions

The Women’s World Cup final takes centre stage on Sunday, as the United States and Japan battle it out in Vancouver in a repeat of 2011’s epic final.

Four years ago, Japan emerged victorious on penalties following a 2-2 stalemate after extra time; but this time around, USWNT are more prepared than ever to reap revenge.

Here, we take a look at selected odds for Sunday’s showdown and assess who could be lifting the coveted trophy.

USWNT Coming Good Right on Cue

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When it comes to major-tournament success, one ingredient is vital: peaking at the right time.

The U.S. may not have been fantastic in their group games, but impressive victories in the knockout stages against Colombia, China and Germany mean both form and confidence are high.

Defender Ali Krieger echoed such a sentiment, saying that the team are feeling optimistic ahead of the final, per U.S. Soccer WNT:

That much is reflected in the odds, too, as the United States are heavy favourites to see off their Japanese counterparts, as we see below.

Date	Time	Fixture	U.S. Odds	Japan Odds
Sunday, July 5	7 p.m. ET	U.S. vs. Japan	2-7	5-2

Japan are known for being stubborn defensively, and if they’re to find a way to glory on Sunday, they need to keep the American attack quiet.

They didn’t exactly manage that in their semi-final victory over England, though, as the Lionesses dominated proceedings and were only defeated thanks to a last-gasp freak own goal. Journalist Ian Abrahams tweeted about the cruel nature of Japan’s victory:

Still, they say the sign of champions is playing badly and winning, and Japan won’t be holding back in Vancouver.

Their odds of 5-2 are rather tempting when you consider what happened last time around, but their record against USWNT isn’t exactly glowing.

Japan have lost six of their seven competitive tournament meetings with their opponents on Sunday, with the draw in 2011’s final the only time they managed to avoid defeat, according to Soccer Punter.

Plus, their friendly defeat in 2014 didn’t give them much encouragement, although Japan coach Norio Sasaki says they’ll use such defeats in their favour on Sunday, per FIFA.com.

"The two teams played out a wonderful match in 2011 and for the sake of women's football, I hope it's a similar affair in 2015—that in itself would make me very happy," Sasaki said. "We faced them in a friendly last year, in which we felt the force of their power. We will apply the lessons we learned from that in the final."

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You get the sense they’ll need something special to overcome the U.S., though, as the favourites will be understandably fired up.

The likes of Carli Lloyd, who missed one of the Americans' penalties in 2011’s final, Hope Solo and, of course, Abby Wambach all have their sights firmly set on glory—nothing else will be good enough.

The tactics need to be right, the preparation perfect and the performance exemplary, but the USWNT should have what it takes.

Prediction: USWNT 3, Japan 1