First place in Group D is on the line Wednesday at England's City of Coventry Stadium when leaders Japan meet surprising Honduras.
Japan has clinched a place in the quarterfinals and leads the group with six points. Honduras has four points and will advance with at least a draw Wednesday or if Morocco fails to beat Spain in the simultaneous group match in Manchester.
A victory by Honduras will allow the Central Americans to capture the group, a welcome prize since the runner-up faces the Group C champion - likely Brazil - in the quarterfinals.
Japan and Brazil are the only teams in the tournament with perfect records. The Japanese beat Morocco 1-0 on Sunday to clinch a quarterfinal spot, but aren't yet worried about the knockout round.
"I'm really glad we were able to pass to the quarterfinals," forward Kensuke Nagai said. "We aim to go to the quarterfinals as top of the group, so we're looking ahead to the next games."
Nagai scored in the 84th minute Sunday in an evenly played match in which each team finished with 13 shots.
"I'm very happy about the result," coach Takashi Sekizuka said. "To be able to pass onto to the knockout round makes me very happy. The first half we weren't able to start out as we did in the first match, but we were able to stay calm."
Both these teams own 1-0 victories over Spain that helped eliminate one of the tournament's favorites. Honduras defeated Spain on Sunday as Jerry Bengtson scored in the seventh minute.
The CONCACAF side held on despite numerous chances for Spain, which drew the ire of the crowd for continually complaining to the referee. The spectators seemed to support the underdog Hondurans as a result.
"It's very nice that we heard the crowd supporting us and shouting 'Honduras, Honduras,'" Bengtson said. "We want to thank them and dedicate this win to them."
Honduras coach Luis Fernando Suarez said his team was lucky to come out of the match with all three points.
"Things went our way tonight, because Spain could have come back to tie or win the game," Suarez said. "We have to remain calm as we look to qualify, because the next match will be very hard."
Suarez will be forced to make two changes since Arnold Peralta and Roger Espinoza both picked up their second yellow cards of the tournament Sunday.
Honduran goalkeeper Jose Mendoza made numerous spectacular saves against Spain, and is looking forward to facing the Japanese.
"Japan have been impressive so far," Mendoza told FIFA's official website. "They're very well organized and on a good run of form. It's going to be a difficult match, but we'll go looking for a win to ensure our qualification."
History indicates this could be a high-scoring match. According to FIFA's site, the senior national teams of Japan and Honduras have met twice before. Japan won 5-4 in 2005 and the teams drew 3-3 in 2002.
