Japan vs Portugal
What the model says about this fixture, at either ground and at a neutral one, with the record behind it. Ratings as at 2026-08-23.
Japan 78.8%draw 2.4%18.8% PortugalPortugal 39.5%draw 2.4%58.1% JapanJapan 70.0%draw 2.4%27.6% PortugalEach figure is 5,000 simulations of this fixture. The score is where those runs are centred, not a likely scoreline — a rugby result is spread far too widely for any single one to be likely.
How the runs finished
Winning margin across 5,000 simulations of this fixture. Bars right of the centre are Japan wins; the faded bars at each end hold everything beyond 75 points.
Margin percentiles
Eight runs in ten finished between 7 Portugal and 43 Japan, with the middle run at 12 Japan.
Those are gaps rather than scorelines. How much scoring the match produces is drawn separately — between 32 and 74 points in eight runs out of ten — so one bar covers many scores. The middle run above is 26-14 on a tight afternoon and 37-25 on an open one.
Why Japan are favoured
Starting from an even match and adding what the model reads, in percentage points of win probability. Positive favours Japan, negative favours Portugal.
Japan 1310, Portugal 1121 — 189 points, favouring Japan
Japan are at home
Recent results, head-to-head record and rest days, as the XGBoost heads weigh them. Deliberately capped, so it can nudge the rating but never overrule it.
Head to head
Japan1–0–0Portugal1 meeting, 2021 to 2021 · Japan by 13.0 on average
| Date | Match | Competition | Venue |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021-11-13 | Portugal 25–38 Japan | — | Estádio Municipal Cidade de Coimbra |
A dash under Competition means the record does not name one, which is common — most rows on file carry no competition. None of this feeds the forecast: both ratings already contain these results.