Japan vs. Poland: Team News, Live Stream, TV Info for World Cup 2018

Japan need only a point against Poland on Thursday to guarantee their passage to the next round of the 2018 FIFA World Cup.

After beating Colombia and drawing with Senegal, the Blue Samurai top Group H on four points ahead of Senegal courtesy of fair play, having scored the same number of goals.

Poland are out of the tournament after two defeats, and they will have nothing more to play for other than pride.

Read on for a preview of the clash, but first here are the viewing details:

Date: Thursday, June 28

Time: 3 p.m. BST/10 a.m. ET

TV: BBC (UK), Fox (USA)

Live Stream: BBC website (UK), Fox Soccer 2GO (USA)

Team News

In their detailed rundown of training following the 2-2 draw with Senegal, the Japanese Football Association made no mention of injury concerns or players under observation, suggesting a clean bill of health for their squad.

According to Transfermarkt, Poland have no injury concerns or suspensions ahead of the match.

Preview

Poland have been one of the most disappointing teams at the World Cup in Russia and became the first European team to be eliminated from the competition following their 3-0 defeat to Colombia in their second match.

Sports journalist Mootaz Chehade noted their failure to live up to expectations:

As football writer Jonny Sharples noted, Poland had secured their high ranking by gaming the system:

Their plan has backfired, though. While they were perhaps unfortunate to land in such a tricky group, not playing friendlies gave them less time on the pitch together, which may be a contributing factor in their failure to get the best out of star striker Robert Lewandowski.

They were outclassed by Colombia in their last game, though Japan perhaps only secured three points against Los Cafeteros because they had a one-man advantage for virtually the entire match following Carlos Sanchez's red card in the third minute.

Japan have kept just one clean sheet since the end of August last year and that was against North Korea in December, so it's clear they can be got at—Lewandowski may have more joy here than in previous matches.

Ben Maxwell of The J-Talk Podcast was impressed and surprised by their ability to twice come from behind against Senegal, though:

If Japan can put in a similar showing against a struggling Poland, they have an excellent chance of at least securing the point they need.