Nobody had given the Blue Samurai a chance of escaping a group featuring Germany and Spain but they did just that courtesy of victories over both - with the latter win coming in dramatic circumstances in the final game.
As such, they are bouncing into the knockout stages quite unlike their opponents, who rather snuck through after goalless draws with Belgium and Morocco.
Below are the projected lineups for both teams.
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Japan vs Croatia lineups
Yuto Nagatomo believes courage will be even more important than team selection or tactics for Japan when they face Croatia in the World Cup Round of 16.
“I think this is a great opportunity for us to show the world how we can fight like Samurai,” the defender said.
“Before they go into battle they polish their weapons and try to improve their techniques, but if they are scared during battle, they would not be able to use those weapons and techniques fully.
“It’s exactly the same with football – of course the tactics and techniques are important, but no matter how much we have improved those, if we are scared when we are on the field, those things are useless.
“In order to maximise all the tactics that we have been discussing and practising for the last four years, the first condition is to have courage.”
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Japan confirmed starting 11
Japan confirmed starting lineup(3-4-3, right to left): 12. Gonda (GK) — 16. Tomiyasu, 22. Yoshida, 3. Taniguchi — 14. Ito, 6. Endo, 13. Morita, 5. Nagatomo — 8. Doan, 25. Maeda, 15. Kamada
Injured: Takefusa Kubo Suspended: Ko Itakura
Suspended Ko Itakura is replaced by Takehiro Tomiyasu in defence, with Wataru Endo in midfield in place of the injured Takefusa Kubo, and the in form Ritsu Doan starts over Ao Tanaka.
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Croatia confirmed starting 11
Croatia confirmed starting lineup (4-3-3, right to left): 1. Livakovic — 22. Juranovic, 6. Lovren, 20. Gvardiol, 3. Barisic — 10. Modric, 11. Brozovic, 8. Kovacic — 16. Petkovic, 9. Kramaric, 4. Perisic
Injured: none Suspended: none
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Japan vs Croatia World Cup squads
Here are the names on Japan and Croatia’s World Cup squad lists in Qatar (caps correct as of start of Qatar 2022):
