On paper, Germany and Spain can be said to be the seeded teams in Group E. However, anything can happen in football. Likewise, Japan and Costa Rica are ready to block the journey of Germany and Spain in the group stage of this World Cup.
Hansi Flick's squad is filled with experienced players and young players such as Serge Gnabry, Jamal Musiala, Joshua Kimmich, and Manuel Neur, they have a fairly even squad depth in all lines.
On the other hand, Luis Enrique's squad is filled with experienced players and quality young players with an average age of 25 years, one of which is Ansu Fati who is a very talented young player. In the last meeting between Spain and Germany, the German squad was defeated by a score of 6-0 in the UEFA Nations League match.
despite all that, after all Germany and Spain are tough opponents in the world cup this time, however, another squad is more favored to be a candidate for the 2022 world cup champion.
Japan is in a very hot group, namely Group E, in which there are strong teams, namely Germany and Spain. and I agree that in this group the most superior are Germany and Spain. I, as a Japanese supporter, don't expect too much that Japan will win. but i don't really know about costa rica are they strong? I hope that even if Japan loses, then at least South Korea should be able to win even though the team they are fighting in Group H is strong enough. i.e. there is portugal, ghana and uruguay there.
I wouldn't write Japan off completely, although they are indeed in a very tough group.
Do you remember how much trouble Belgium had in the match against them at the last World Cup in Russia? I have a feeling that they could surprise someone at this world championship as well. This is a very talented and experienced national team that regularly participates in world championships.
Costa Rica has a history of very good performances at the world championships, sometimes they managed to pass the group and make it to the knockout stage of the competition, but I don't know how strong they are as a team right now.
South Korea are also in a very tough group at the World Cup and they have little chance of winning one of the top two spots in the group. Portugal and Uruguay are the obvious favorites in that group, but Ghana will be a very tough opponent for everyone.