Croatia beat Japan 3-1 in penalty shootout after both teams were level at 1-1 even after extra time in the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 Round of 16 match at Al Wakrah Stadium on Monday.
Japan took the lead in the 43′ through Daizen Maeda. Croatia equalised 10 minutes into the second half courtesy of a header from Ivan Perisic.
For Japan, only Takuma Asano converted his spot kick while penalty kicks taken by Takumi Minamino, Kaoru Mitoma and Maya Yoshida were saved by Croatian goalkeeper Dominik Livakovic.
On the other hand, Nikola Vlasic, Marcelo Brozovic and Mario Pasalic scored from the spot for the 2018 runner-up while Marco Livaja hit the post.
For Croatia, it was the seventh time in last eight knockout matches across tournaments that they played in extra time.
Japan Starting XI: Shuichi Gonda; Takehiro Tomiyasu, Maya Yoshida (capt), Shogo Taniguchi; Junya Ito, Wataru Endo, Hidemasa Morita, Yuto Nagatomo; Ritsu Doan, Daichi Kamada, Daizen Maeda
Croatia Starting Xi: Dominik Livakovic; Josip Juranovic, Dejan Lovren, Josko Gvardiol, Borna Barisic; Mateo Kovacic, Luka Modric, Marcelo Brozovic; Ivan Perisic, Andrej Kramaric, Bruno Petkovic
Picture Courtesy: FIFA Media
