Japan stunned the world by celebrating victories over two European giants, Germany and Spain, in the group stage of the World Cup 2022. The Samurai Blue booked their spot in the next stage of the top competition and are set to face the 2018 World Cup runners-up Croatia in the Round of 16. The meeting starts on 5 December at 15:00 UK time.
Bookmaker Ratings: Prediction #1 – Croatia to win/Total Goals 2-3 – 3.47.
Bookmaker Ratings: Prediction #2 – Correct score: 1:2 – 8.90.
Croatia were better than Japan in the group-stage fixtures in terms of possession and shots on target and inside the box. Nevertheless, the Japanese are capable of performing miracles. Լagging behind throughout the game didn’t stop them to make impressive comebacks against such opponents as Germany and Spain. Two wins were enough to grab a spot in the Round of 16. Though they are likely not to have as much luck versus Croatia as they did in the previous stage of the World Cup.
We expect heavy competition between these two opponents, but only a few goals.
The Japanese footballers have a great mentality, but the Croatians are well known for the same perseverance. Croatia are more experienced in the tournament following their successful run back in 2018. So, they are our favourites to win this game by at least one or two goals.
Japan had a quite shocking start in the World Cup, beating the 2014 World Cup winner, Germany.
Surprisingly, they couldn’t have a successful meeting with Costa Rica, losing points versus the Central American team. So, the first game with the Germans seemed to be more of a fortune.
Nevertheless, Hajime Moriyasu’s side didn’t give up on their dream of playing in the next stage of the tournament and fought until the final whistle to grab their second victory over another European team, Spain.
Despite the talks over the controversial second goal, Japan is now in the Round of 16 and will try its best to beat Croatia.
Croatia played a goalless draw with one of the solid teams of the tournament – Morocco. This was not the best start for the Croatians. However, they didn’t lose their determination in the next two clashes.
The 2018 World Cup runners-up celebrated a massive 4 – 1 victory over Canada to gain three points from the second meeting.
The third game was a hard test for Croatia as they couldn’t succeed in breaking the wall of Belgium goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois. So, the game ended with a goalless draw.
Croatia finished second in Group F and joined the 16 teams that will fight in play-offs. They should attack more and be very careful in defence to stop the Japanese. We believe they are a team with great vigor to do so.
Japan vs Croatia: Probable Lineups
In our opinion, the teams will take to the field with the following line-ups:
Japan: Gonda – Itakura, Yoshida, Taniguchi – Ito, Tanaka, Morita, Nagamoto – Kubo, Maeda, Kamada.
Croatia: Livaković – Juranović, Lovren, Gvardiol, Sosa – Modrić, Brozović, Kovačić – Kramarić, Livaja, Perišić.
The fixture will be played at Al Janoub Stadium (44.325) in Al-Wakrah, Qatar.
This starting whistle will sound on the 5th of December, 2022, at 15:00 UK Time.
We recommend checking out the odds for the World Cup 2022: Japan vs Croatia at 22Bet.