Japan vs Croatia Preview 05/12/2022

Japan vs Croatia – 05/12/2022

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On Monday afternoon, Japan and Croatia will go head-to-head at Al Janoub Stadium – with either side hoping to ebook their place within the quarter-finals of the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.

Japan punched their ticket to the final 16 after ending prime of Group E, two factors away from Spain and Germany. Only a few folks anticipated that to occur earlier than the match kicked off.

As for Croatia, they secured their spot within the knockouts by ending second in Group F – knocking out Belgium within the course of. Can they go all the way in which to the ultimate as soon as once more?

Japan kicked off their marketing campaign with a surprising comeback victory over Germany, scoring two second-half targets to win 2-1.

After shedding their second recreation 1-0 to Costa Rica, the Japanese produced one other outstanding turnaround – scoring twice within the second half to beat Spain 2-1.

Consider it or not, Japan achieved 26% possession in opposition to Germany earlier than seeing simply 17% of the ball in opposition to Spain. Nonetheless, they managed to win on each events.

Once you have a look at the larger image, Japan have solely misplaced two of their earlier 9 video games in all competitions. Can they keep away from defeat on Monday?

On the flip facet, Croatia superior to the knockout part with out defeat after selecting up one win and two attracts to complete second in Group F.

Following a goalless draw with Morocco, the 2018 runners-up thrashed Canada 4-1 earlier than taking part in out one other goalless draw with Belgium – knocking the Purple Devils out of the match.

It’s value noting that Croatia have conceded a solitary objective in Qatar, with the midfield trio of Luka Modric, Mateo Kovacic and Marcelo Brozovic operating the present in the midst of the park.

The Croatians head into the knockouts on a nine-game unbeaten streak and have solely misplaced certainly one of their earlier 19 outings throughout all competitions.

Head-to-head: Japan and Croatia met on the 1998 and 2006 editions of the World Cup following Japan’s 4-3 victory over Croatia again in 1997.

Croatia beat Japan 1-0 in 1998 earlier than the 2 sides performed out a goalless attract 2006. Which means the H2H document between the groups stands at one win apiece and one draw.

Workforce information: Brighton’s Kaoru Mitoma is pushing for a begin in Japan’s XI after impressing throughout three substitute appearances in Qatar.

Croatia have named an unchanged beginning XI for the previous two video games. The one change from the primary recreation noticed Marko Livaja change Nikola Vlasic in assault.

Japan and Croatia have each loved a powerful World Cup marketing campaign thus far, which means Monday’s conflict is destined to be a decent encounter.

With that in thoughts, Forebet predicts that Japan and Croatia will play out a low-scoring draw inside 90 minutes – forcing the sport to extra-time and/or penalties.