Croatia

Goalkeeper Dominik Livakovic saved three spot-kicks as Croatia beat Japan 3-1 in a penalty shootout to reach the World Cup quarter-finals for the third time ...

Extra time was a little more ragged although a thrilling run and piledriver of a shot from Japan substitute Kaoru Mitoma brought a fine save out of Livakovic just before the break. Gonda again had to be at his best to keep out a rocket of a shot from Perisic in the 77th minute, while at the other end Japan continued their raids but without carving out any clear-cut chances. Japan showed far more adventure than they had in the first half of their group matches and Shogo Taniguchi, Daichi Kamada and Maeda all had chances to open the scoring before the latter broke the deadlock in the 43rd minute.

Croatia's players celebrate after winning the penalty shootout against Japan. Dan Mullan/Getty Images. CNN —. Goalkeeper Dominik Livaković made ...

But Croatia, which was the beaten finalist in 2018, used its experience to dig itself out of a difficult situation. It was a familiar story for Croatia. But even after 30 minutes of extra-time and with penalties looming, neither side could find another breakthrough. Mario Pasalic struck the decisive spot-kick to send his side into the “It’s really hard to take.” Despite its defeat, Japan can look back at an impressive World Cup campaign.

Croatia are into the quarter-finals of the 2022 World Cup in Qatar after edging past Japan in a penalty shootout.

Perisic reacts quickest at the back post to guide his header into the far corner of the net past Gonda! This defeat will be extremely tough to stomach for Moriyasu and his side, but Japanese football is in an extremely good place from what we have seen. Sadly, for the Samurai Blue, it wasn't to be on this occasion. Mario Pasalic slotted home the decisive penalty to send Croatia through to the last eight, where they will face either South Korea or Brazil at the Education City Stadium in Al Rayyan on Friday afternoon. Despite both sides creating more chances, they could not be separated after 90 minutes, and extra-time was required for the first time in the tournament. Daizen Maeda reacted quickest to Maya Yoshida’s knockdown in the six-yard box from Ritsu Doan’s initial cross to tap the ball home beyond Dominik Livakovic in the Croatia goal.

For the longest time, the likes of Luka Modric and Ivan Perisic have been central to Croatia's greatest moments. Not so in the win over Japan.

[Mario Pasalic](http://espnfc.com/player/_/id/189668/Mario-Pasalic), 27, and Lovro Majer, 24, are in and out of the starting lineups for [Atalanta](/soccer/team?id=105) and Rennes respectively. In total, [Dejan Lovren](http://espnfc.com/player/_/id/123560/Dejan-Lovren) and [Marcelo Brozovic](http://espnfc.com/player/_/id/178383/Marcelo-Brozovic) were the only holdovers who lasted until the final penalty against Japan. [Marko Livaja](http://espnfc.com/player/_/id/165580/Marko-Livaja), 29, is back in Croatia at Hajduk Split. [Denmark](/soccer/team?id=479) and hosts Russia) before outlasting [England](/soccer/team?id=448) in extra-time in the semifinal. [Chelsea](/soccer/team?id=363) mainstay, a guy who scored 91 Bundesliga goals for Hoffenheim and a Tottenham star whose resume includes [Bayern Munich](/soccer/team?id=132), Inter Mila and [Borussia Dortmund](/soccer/team?id=124). Nikola Vlasic, 25, was a bust at West Ham and [Everton](http://espnfc.com/player/_/id/198940/Everton) and is now at [Torino](/soccer/team?id=239). [Domagoj Vida](http://espnfc.com/player/_/id/148110/Domagoj-Vida), the hulking defender who was a mainstay for Croatia at Russia 2018, enveloped both players in a bear hug. In a World Cup that may well be the last for a number of bonafide superstars -- from [Cristiano Ronaldo](http://espnfc.com/player/_/id/22774/Cristiano-Ronaldo) to [Luis Suarez](http://espnfc.com/player/_/id/125088/Luis-Suárez) to [Lionel Messi](http://espnfc.com/player/_/id/45843/Lionel-Messi) -- you may have wondered whether you had just witnessed Modric's final moments on the biggest stage of all. Vida was on the bench; [Andrej Kramaric](http://espnfc.com/player/_/id/139520/Andrej-Kramaric) was substituted earlier, [Ivan Perisic](http://espnfc.com/player/_/id/103485/Ivan-Perisic) would come off later. [Russia](/soccer/team?id=454), he dragged Croatia to the World Cup final and won the Ballon D'Or. The other is the cinematic tale of the veteran superstars joining forces for one last big score, riding their experience and mental toughness to the quarterfinal of a World Cup. except it was the emotion that comes from the red and white chequers on the front of the shirt, not the name on the back of the jersey.

With scores deadlocked at 1-1, Croatia won with goalkeeper Dominic Livakovic saving three penalties in the shootout.

Mario Pasalic scored the winning spot kick to see Croatia through 3-1 on penalties on Monday in the tournament’s last game at the Al Janoub Stadium in Wakrah, south of Qatar’s capital. Croatia beat Japan on penalties in a closely fought World Cup last-16 tie to claim a place in the quarter-finals. Croatia beat Japan on penalties to reach quarter-finals

DOHA, Qatar — In terms of population, there's no contest between Brazil and Croatia. “Brazil has 200 million people, we only have 4 million,” Croatia coach ...

“That shows the will and the commitment and the faith of the whole team,” Dalić said. But it’s a totally different thing to represent your country, because this is patriotism — it’s pride, it’s emotion, so it’s different. “We will always give everything we’ve got, especially this generation of players.” It’s character. It’s mental strength. But we are brave, defiant and loyal,” Dalić said.

Croatia and Japan ended 90-minutes of regulation and 30-minutes of extra time tied 1-1. The Croatian goalkeeper Dominik Livaković stopped three Japanese ...

Japanese fans also played a part in the country's story here. Japan has been one of the major surprises at this World Cup, coming from behind, each time, to shock European powers Germany — a four-time World Cup winner — and Spain in the group stage. Flipping its World Cup script, Japan scored first for once, in the waning minutes of the first half. Forward Ivan Perišić took a long pass over the top from the right side and beautifully headed in the ball past Japanese goalkeeper Shūichi Gonda. In the 43rd minute, Japanese forward Daizen Maeda left-footed a point blank shot past Livaković for the score. [round of 16 match](https://www.fifa.com/fifaplus/en/tournaments/mens/worldcup/qatar2022/teams/croatia/stats) Monday in Qatar, Croatia beat Japan on penalty kicks, 1-1 (3-1).

Goalkeeper Dominik Livakovic saved three penalty kicks in Croatia's 3-1 win over Japan in a shootout on Monday, securing a return to the quarterfinals for the ...