Japan vs England predicted line-ups: Team news for final Women's World Cup Group D clash
England are looking to make it three from three when they take on Japan in the Women’s World Cup on Wednesday night.
Phil Neville’s side have already beaten Scotland and Argentina in Group D and will secure top spot if they avoid defeat at the Allianz Riviera. The Lionesses are growing in confidence under Neville, with Nikita Parris and Ellen White scoring against Scotland and Jodie Taylor scoring against Argentina.
The England boss must decide whether to rotate to remain fresh for the knock-out phase or maintain their momentum. Follow LIVE coverage below.
Phil Neville believes his England side is fully briefed and prepared for football’s latest rule changes ahead of Wednesday’s final group game with Japan, having seen VAR cause controversy across the Women’s World Cup.
Neville claimed not be surprised that France were controversially allowed to retake their penalty against Nigeria on Monday night when goalkeeper Chiamaka Nnadozie was penalised for coming off her goal-line.
England have already benefitted from recent changes to the handball rule, with Nikita Parris converting from the spot against Scotland after Nicola Docherty was penalised for an apparently unintentional offence.
“The penalty decision wasn’t a grey area for anyone who’s had those meetings in the World Cup,” Neville said. “You guys probably don’t agree with the rule itself, never mind the decision. When we saw that last night, we weren’t surprised.
“Our three goalkeepers have grilled the referees about the rules and what is expected. Those are the rules. It’s like our penalty against Scotland, as soon as it happened we’d been taught that it would be given as a penalty.
“You can actually say VAR is working,” Neville added. “Those are the rules, and the referees and the VARs are agreeing to the rules that are in place and that we’ll see next season as well.”
Events last night have ensured that VAR has remained the hottest talking point in France. Earlier today, Mark Critchley wrote on how, for better or for worse, VAR is continuing to erase football’s old jumble of variables.
As England look to top Group D a victory tonight will see them achieve that goal for only the second time in their World Cup history. But it won't be easy...
...Their opponents, Japan, have gone unbeaten in their last five Women's World Cup group stage matches encompassing the 2015 World Cup and the opening two matches of this one.
The silver lining for England is that the last time Japan lost a group stage match was to England, 2-0, in the 2011 World Cup, when England also last topped the table of a group stage.
Head coach Phil Neville makes eight changes to the starting XI that wore down Argentina to win 1-0 in Le Havre.
Toni Duggan makes her first start of the tournament after recovering from a thigh injury. Georgia Stanway, Rachel Daly and Ellen White all start as the front four are all changed from the previous match.
Karen Bardsley returns in goal with Millie Bright and Demi Stokes joining the defence.
Keira Walsh replaces Jade Moore in the mid-field in the final change.
Based on the result tonight England face differing routes in their quest to get to the World Cup final.
Should they lose tonight and finish second in Group D they will go to Rennes to face either Canada or the Netherlands in the last 16.
If they avoid losing they'll face a third place team of either China, Cameroon, New Zealand, Chile or Thailand on Sunday in Valenciennes.
For the quarters Norway or Australia likely wait if England top the group, if they don't they could play one of either Itlay, Nigeria, China, Chile or Thailand.
Top the group and come through the tests of the knockout matches and a semi-final against France or USA seems most likely.
Lost tonight but make it to the semis and Canada, Sweden or the Netherlands will probably be the opponents.
So, lots of options. Either route offers up tough games but winning brings momentum. Phil Neville and the Lionesses will no doubt want to win every game they play and build up that momentum. Then it won't matter who stands in their way.
England remember the 2015 World Cup in Canada fondly. They came third, their highest ever finish, but lost in the semi-final to Japan.
The Lionesses were the underdogs on that occasion but they took the game deep until a Laura Bassett own goal in the 90th minute gave Japan the victory.
It's a different story tonight though. Japan are in a rebuilding phase and have dropped to seventh in the World rankings, four places lower than England.
England also won the last match between the two sides, 3-0 in the SheBelieves Cup in March this year.
Phil Neville on the changes to England's starting XI
"We've got Demi Stokes and Toni Duggan back, who are keen to play and we need to get them minutes. Stokes, Bright, Houghton and Lucy Bronze, we haven't managed to play that back four a lot in my time as manager, maybe only once or twice so it's important to get that back four playing again. Nikita [Parris] and Fran [Kirby] have put in an unbelievable shift in, as well as Beth Mead in the last two games so we thought freshening it up in wide areas would give us the pace, the energy and the speed to cause Japan problems.
"We've just spoke before the game about our objectives. Our objective is to finish top of the group but it's not because of the path we want to take it's because of the momentum we want to build. We're treating this game as almost a practice for the knockout rounds, we want to win the game, they have to win the game to finish top so I think it's going to be a really entertaining game."
"We don't have a negative impression about that defeat [in the SheBelieves Cup].
"We managed to try all the things that we wanted to - to test ourselves. Now we are in a wonderful tournament and we are going to play against a wonderful team and we're really looking forward to it.
"Our team has character as a squad and I want them to fulfil their potential."
3 mins: Japan take control of the ball and switch the play from right to left. Iwabuchi loses the ball and England look to push forward but are forced back. Houghton gives the ball away and Yokoyama receives the ball, she shoots but sends it wide,
9 mins: Toni Duggan plays a loose pass and gives the ball away. England have started a little sloppily so far. Japan bring the ball to the edge of England's box and win a free kick.
Yokoyama eyes it up, shoots and Bardsley dives to her right and tips the ball onto the crossbar. Great save from Bardsley!
12 mins: England's newish back four keep getting drawn into the ball and are allowing Japan a lot of space in front of goal. A bit more composure is needed from the defenders.
Bright tries to play a long through ball up to Duggan but it gets interecpted. England win the ball back high up the pitch and Stanway shoots from range winning a corner with a deflection.
The Lionesses succumbed to defeat against Japan in heart-breaking fashion at the last World Cup, losing 2-1 in the semi-finals via a stoppage-time own goal. Since then, England have grown from strength to strength and emerged as one of the sport's best teams. They notably beat Japan 3-0 at the SheBelieves Cup and now have the opportunity to reap revenge for the pain of their last World Cup outing.
Having demonstrated their maturity and composure to beat Argentina 1-0 win, England's place in the knockout stages of the competition is secured. Avoiding defeat against Japan on Wednesday would see them top Group D and go on to face China, Chile or Cameroon in the last-16 - a kind draw that would put them in good stead for the later stages of the tournament.
Japan pose a greater threat than either Scotland or Argentina but with confidence riding high, and qualification out of the group stages already wrapped up, expect to see a free and expressive England side take to the field. Their possession-based, patient style of play means this is unlikely to be a high-scoring affair but with the likes of Fran Kirby, Beth Mead and Jodie Taylor threatening against Argentina, there's no doubt Phil Neville's women will be looking to take the game to their Japanese opponents.
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