Doha: Japan will face Croatia in a round-of-16 match of the FIFA World Cup 2022 at the Al Janoub Stadium in Qatar at 8.30 pm (IST). Japan entered the knockout stage as Group E champions with 6 points. The Asian team defeated Germany and Spain in their group stage matches. But they lost to Costa Rica. Japan played their first world cup in 1998. Japan is appearing in the knockout stage for the fourth time. Earlier they were qualified for the round of 16 in 2002, 2010 and 2018.
Meanwhile, Croatia finished second in Group F with 5 points. Croatia defeated Canada and settled for a draw with Belgium and Morocco. Croatia was the runner-up in 2018 and finished third in 1998. They are unbeaten in their last 9 international appearances.
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This will be the third World Cup meeting between Japan and Croatia. Croatia defeated Japan by ‘1-0’ in 1998 and settled for a goalless draw in 2006.
Predicted lineup:
Japan predicted XI (3-4-3): Gonda, Tomiyasu, Yoshida, Taniguchi, Ito, Morita, Tanaka, Doan, Asana, Maeda, Kamada
Croatia predicted XI (4-3-3): Livakovic, Juranovic, Lovren, Gvardiol, Sosa, Modric, Brazovic, Kovacic, Pasalic, Kramaric, Perisic
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