Croatia beat Japan 3-1 on penalties after extra time to qualify for the quarter-finals of the FIFA 2022 World Cup.
At the full-time, the score was 1-1, and no goal in extra time.
Croatian Goalkeeper Dominik Livakovic was the hero, saving three penalties in the shootout.
Croatia maintains their 100% record in the round of 16.
This was the first round of 16 games to go into extra time in the FIFA 2022 World Cup in Qatar.
Japan took the lead in the dying minutes of the first half through Daizen Maeda.
Daizen Maeda scored in the 43rd minute when he reacted quickest to Maya Yoshida’s knockdown in the six-yard box.
Ivan Perisic’s powerful header leveled scores shortly after the restart in the 55th minute.
He scored from Dejan Lovren’s cross, becoming his country’s all-time leading scorer at major tournaments with 10 goals.
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Japan saw three of their spot-kicks saved by Livakovic in the Croatia goal.
Livakovic kept out the first two efforts before stopping Maya Yoshida’s kick. Mario Pasalic converted the vital kick to take Croatia through to the quarter-finals.
Japan could not repeat their heroics coming into the match. They defeated European giants Germany and Spain in the group stages. Unfortunately, they could not scale the Croatian hurdle in the last 16.
Croatia will play the winner between South Korea and Brazil at the Education City Stadium in Al Rayyan on Friday afternoon.
