World Cup 2022: The Comeback Kings Meet the Former King Slayers

Japan vs Croatia

After emerging as the unlikely winners in Group E, Japan face their biggest test yet in World Cup 2022 as they’ll take on a battle-tested Croatia team for their Round of 16 match on Sunday at the Al Janoub Stadium.

Here at SBOTOP, we didn’t fancy Japan’s chances of making it out of Group E since we picked Germany and Spain to advance. However, they’ve become the darlings of the tournament after defying the odds by beating the two former world champs.

Croatia, meanwhile, had a relatively straightforward journey to the Round of 16. After a couple of positive World Cup 2022 results (W1, D2), the Vatreni finished second behind Morocco in Group F.

Zlatko Dalic’s men were in the same position as Japan during the previous edition of this competition. But this time, the roles are reversed since they head into the knockouts as the favourites.

Talking Points

Japan beaming with confidence

Hajime Moriyasu should be given the plaudits for guiding this team to the quarter-finals. Whether they win or lose to Croatia, their run in Qatar is going to be remembered for a long time.

Looking at their run, what stood out was that Japan have scored all four of their goals in the World Cup after trailing at half-time – a testament to their resilience and intestinal fortitude.

Several heroes have stepped up for the Samurai Blue – particularly their European-based players in Ritsu Doan, Takuma Asano, Ao Tanaka, and Kaoru Mitoma.

Doan is the difference-maker for Japan since he was the one who set the tone for them in this tournament. In their victories over Germany and Spain, the SC Freiburg winger changed the complexion of those games as he scored the equalisers during the second half.

His curved ball against Spain that ended up being scored by Ao Tanaka after a cut-back by Kaoru Mitoma – albeit in controversial fashion – essentially sealed their place into the Round of 16, and the image of the said goal is going to be immortalised by their supporters.

The sky is the limit for the Samurai Blue, not only in this tournament, but for years to come. Hopefully, this is the start of something special for them.

Croatia’s experience will play a huge role

Four years removed from the 2018 final, Croatia are ready to make new history here in Qatar. Four of their key players from 2018 – Marcelo Brozovic, Dejan Lovren, Luka Modric and Ivan Perisic – are still going strong and little will faze them in the knockouts.

Save for their 4-1 win over Canada, Croatia have been underwhelming up front this tournament as Andrej Kramaric is only their main threat there with two goals.

But their backline has been rock solid as they’ve secured clean sheets against Morocco and Belgium. Their most impressive defencive display was against Belgium where they robbed them of the chance to advance to the knockouts.

Josko Gvardiol has been an absolute unit at centre-half and for sure his stock has already gone up, especially after that amazing save against Romelu Lukaku on Thursday.

History

Japan and Croatia meet at the World Cup for the third time. In their two previous encounters at the group stage, Croatia won 1-0 in 1998 and they were held to a goalless draw in 2006.

Those two games are Croatia’s only previous World Cup matches against Asian opposition.

Prior to defeating Germany and Spain earlier this week, Japan had only won twice in their last 10 World Cup matches against European nations (D3, L5).

Japan reached the Round of 16 for the fourth time, including the last two editions, but never progressed from this stage. The only Asian sides who reached the quarter-finals were DPR Korea in 1966 and Korea Republic in 2002.

Croatia are making their third appearance in the Round of 16 and they have won in their last two games here, winning over Romania 1-0 in 1998 and defeating Denmark via penalties in 2018.

Betting Tip

The World Cup 2022 odds are predicting a tight affair, but they’ve given Croatia the slight edge. The Vatreni are priced at 2.17, while Japan aren’t far behind at 3.40 and a draw after 90 minutes is at 3.15 in the 1X2 market.

Japan have been dangerous in the second halves so far this tournament, so for sure Croatia will be wary of that. Look for Croatia to turn this into a defencive slugfest since they thrive in these type of matches – making Under 2.50 @ 1.65 another bet to ponder.

 

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