Iraq made one change to their starting lineup for the match between the group's two unbeaten sides.
Japan opened their title defence with a crushing 4-0 win over Palestine on Monday and coach Javier Aguirre unsurprisingly kept faith in his starting side.
Iraq made just one change from the team that started in Monday's 1-0 win over Jordan, with left back Ali Adnan replacing Humam Tareq.
Japan have won their last three matches against Iraq but the Blue Samurai are expecting a much tougher match in Brisbane with the winner likely to go on to win the group.
"(This) is a very important game in the group stage," Japanese midfielder Yasuhito Endo said.
"Iraq are an excellent team that we respect, we will do everything we can and show our fighting spirit in the game."
Iraq, who won the 2007 Asian Cup, are also expecting a different approach from the Japanese after their opening win over Jordan.
"We take every match step-by-step. The first match against Jordan was a good result and gives us an advantage in this competition," Iraq coach Radhi Shenaishil said.
"I think the advantage is that, after our win against Jordan, the Japanese team will look at Iraq in a different way given the history between the two teams."
Lineups:
Japan - Eiji Kawashima, Gotoku Sakai, Maya Yoshida, Masato Morishige, Yuto Nagatomo, Makoto Hasebe, Yasuhito Endo, Takashi Inui, Shinji Kagawa, Keisuke Honda, Shinji Okazaki
Iraq - Jalal Hassan, Ali Adnan, Ahmed Ibrahim, Salam Shakir, Dhurgham Ismael, Waleed Salim, Yaser Kasim, Saad Abdul Amir, Amjed Kalaf, Alaa Abdul Zahra, Younis Mahmoud
(Reporting by Julian Linden; Editing by John O'Brien)
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