Japan vs Croatia will face each other in the knockout stages of the Qatar 2022 World Cup. On the one hand, the journey of the Japanese team in the World Cup started on the right foot with a surprise and historic 2-1 victory against Germany. Then, they lost 1-0 to Costa Rica and, in the third and final round, achieved another unexpected victory against Spain by 2-1. In this way, being the revelation of the World Cup, the team led by Hajime Moriyasu finished in the first position of Group E with six units.
Instead, Croatia finished second in Group F with five points after beating Canada 4-1 and drawing against Morocco and Belgium, both goalless matches.
Considering how both teams reached the 22nd edition of the World Cup, Japan is ranked number 24 in the FIFA ranking and will aim to advance for the fourth time in seven participations to the knockout stages.
His imbalance factor up front is 27-year-old Takumi Minamino, who was sold to Monaco by Liverpool after a brief loan from Southampton. Together with his teammate Yuya Osako they added 10 goals each in the Asian Qualifiers and were in third place in the table of top scorers.
Other outstanding values in the Japanese national team are defenders Yuto Nagatomo, former Inter of Italy, and Wataru Endo (Stuttgart), and forwards Junya Ito (Reims) and Take Kubo (Real Sociedad).
In the World Cup events, Japan debuted in the France ’98 edition and since then it has not always given the present. Three times he reached the second round (2002, 2006 and 2018) and the other three times he was out of the race in the initial phase (1998, 2006 and 2014).
On the other hand, Croatia, led by Zlatko Dalic, will seek to defend the prestige achieved in Russia, where they made the best performance in their young history after reaching the final (they lost 4-2 against France).
The greatest illusions of the Balkan team are still deposited in Luka Modric (Real Madrid), architect of the Croatian game, who at 37 years old will play his fourth World Cup after Germany 2006, Brazil 2014 and Russia 2018, in which he won the Golden Ball for the best player.
In addition, it has other figures such as midfielders Marcelo Brozovic (Inter Milan) and Mateo Kovacic (Chelsea), and striker Ivan Pulisic (Tottenham Hotspur), undisputed in the squad.
Other players present in Russia also remain within the stable cast such as defenders Domagoj Vida (AEK Athens), Dejan Lovren (Zenit Saint Petersburg) and Sime Vrsaljko (Olympiakos) and forwards Ante Rebic (Milan), Andrej Kramaric (Hoffenheim) and Nikola Kalinic (Hajduk Split).
The first World Cup in the Middle East is his sixth experience since Yugoslavia was dissolved and was recognized as an independent country in January 1992. His record in the FIFA competition records two podiums (second in Russia and third in France 98) and three eliminations in the first round (Korea-Japan 2002, Germany 2006 and Brazil 2014). He arrives at the World Cup in 12th place in the FIFA ranking.
In this way, Japan and Croatia will face each other again in Qatar in 2022. This will be the third time they will meet in a World Cup: the first was in 1998, with a 1-0 win for Croatia and the second in 2006 with a 0-0 draw between them.
When and what time Japan vs. Japan plays? Croatia at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar
Date: Monday, December 5
Time: 12:00 (Argentina time)
Stadium: Al Janoub
Which channel passes Japan vs. Croatia live on TV
The match can be seen live from Argentina on TV Pública, TyC Sports, and DirecTV Sports.
How to Watch Japan vs. Japan Live Croatia online streaming for FREE at the Qatar 2022 World Cup
The public channel will broadcast live, free of charge throughout the country, half of the World Cup games (32), complemented by Tyc Sports Play, which will offer the other 50%. It can also be seen through platforms such as Flow, DirecTV Go and Telecentro Play, with the requirement of being subscribed to cable operators.
