Japan managed to qualify from a seemingly impossible position before the tournament kicked off. International giants Spain and Germany were heavy favourites but the Blue Samurai managed to get incredible results in both games. Not only did they qualify but also managed to win the group. The Japan team work very hard for each other and make sure they always fight until the final whistle.
The manager has shown great faith to the squad. Each player has played a part. All of the attacking substitutions against Germany were heavily involved. Substitutes Ritsu Doan and Takuma Asano both contributed with goals and Monaco man Takumi Minamino being heavily involved in the Japanese first goal. In contrast, against Spain the team defended incredibly well and each substitution maintained the intensity and defensive will when they came on.
Croatia overcame the disappointing Belgium and qualified from Group G in second place behind the impressive Morocco. They impressively beat Canada 4-1 and showed their experience after going a goal down. The midfield three have ran the show for Croatia. Modric at the age of 37 is still pulling the strings but has been accompanied well by the excellent dribbler Mateo Kovacic and the defensively stern Marcelo Brozovic. Age hasn’t seemed to be a problem yet for Croatia but they face an energetic Japan side.
Japan have reached the last 16 of the World Cup for a fourth time but have yet to progress from this stage. They were involved in that thriller against Belgium in the 2018 World Cup where a last minute Belgium winner saw the Japanese knocked out. The Blue Samurai will look to make history against Croatia and seek to qualify for the Quarter Finals.
2018 finalists Croatia have actually only been in the round of 16 twice before but have only lost two of their eight knockout stage games at the World Cup. Despite scoring four against Canada, Croatia failed to score in their other two group games. Whilst they’re defensively sound, there’s still a lot demanded going forward. Peresic is Croatia's top goal scorer in major competitions and may be relied upon again.
Japan have also scored four goals in the competition so far, however three of those four goals have been scored by substitutes. This is the most ever in a single edition by an Asian nation.
Japanese veteran Yuto Nagatomo also spoke on the game and said Japan must “fight like Samurai” against Croatia. He also stated: “Tactics and techniques are important, but no matter how much we have improved those, if we are scared when we are on the field, those things are useless.”
In the build-up to the game, Croatia manager Zaltko Dalic said: “In the past, I might have picked Japan as an opponent that we would want to play, but they have defeated both Germany and Spain. This certainly will not be an easy game for us.”
Who makes the Quarter Finals?
Japan
Croatia
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