Croatia beat Japan 3-1 on penalties to progress to quarter-final

Croatia sealed a hard-fought win against a resilient Japanese team to progress to the final eight of the 2022 FIFA World Cup. The Croatians won on penalties to send the Blue Samurai out of the tournament and deny them an opportunity to make history.

The first game at this year's World Cup to go into extra time and penalties, the Croatia-Japan round of 16 fixture was 1-1 at the end of the regulation 90 minutes with Daizen Maeda scoring for Japan, while Ivan Perisic restored parity for the Croats. Extra time also failed to separate the two teams, with the score remaining tied even after 120 minutes of play.

Croatia made it into their second World Cup quarter-final in a row on the back of a hat-trick of saves from goalkeeper Dominik Livaković in the shootout.

Joško Gvardiol put in another commanding performance at centre-back for the Croatians, stifling Japanese attackers and taking the occasional striding run forward to ensure the game went to a shootout.

One of Brazil or South Korea await the Croatians, with their round of 16 tie scheduled to be played in a few hours time.