Japan vs. Mexico: 2019 Toulon Tournament Live Stream, Schedule and Prediction

Japan take on Mexico in the first semi-final of the 2019 Toulon Tournament on Wednesday.

The pair will face off at the Stade de Lattre-de-Tassigny in Aubagne, France, with Mexico bidding to reach the final for the second year running, while Japan are hoping to improve on a third-place finish achieved in 2002.

After three-time defending champions England were knocked out in the group stage, it's a somewhat open draw for the knockout phase this year.

Date: Wednesday, June 12

Time: 2 p.m. BST/9 a.m. ET

Live Stream: Free Sports (UK), beIN Sports (U.S.)

Japan are the only one of the final four teams to have suffered a defeat in the group stage, but they nevertheless topped Group A on goal difference.

They kicked off the tournament with a 2-1 victory over England and a 6-1 thrashing of Chile, before slipping to a 1-0 defeat to Portugal in their final game, in which they named a much-changed side.

Football writers Zach Lowy and Ryan Baldi have been impressed with Japan, and the latter singled out Reo Hatate, who is the tournament's joint-top scorer after his hat-trick against Chile:

As for Mexico, they finished second to the Republic of Ireland in Group C but were unbeaten.

El Tri edged out China PR 1-0 in their final group match:

Mexico did not concede a goal in the group stage, but they also scored just three goals, the worst tally of the four semi-final sides.

While their defence was impressive, the calibre of their opponents in a group consisting of Ireland, China and Bahrain was much lower than Japan's group of England, Chile and Portugal. 

As such, Japan should be capable of causing them problems. It's difficult to see Mexico giving their opponents much trouble given their own lack of firepower, though, so the Samurai Blue look the more likely to progress.

Prediction: Japan 2-0 Mexico