Nobody was able to predict today’sJapan vs Croatia was going to be a match in the round of 16 of the Qatar 2022 FIFA World Cup, but that is how it went. Read along to find out the confirmed lineups for these teams. If you are in the US, it will be available on FuboTV (free trial) and Peacock (Limited-time offer for 0.99/m).
Japan was the upset wins squad in this tournament. They started with a victory over top favorites like Germany to shock the probabilities. Their loss vs Costa Rica was almost as surprising, although they went back to making history right after that. The Japanese won their group following a 2-1 win over another title candidate as Spain.
Croatia instead were projected to be here by a lot of people. It was supposed to be either them or Belgium the squad that lead group F, but they were both stun. The Croatians finished in the second place behind Morocco after a 0-0 tie with the Belgians on Matchday 3. They can at least trust their defensive side given they are undefeated.
Japan lineup
Part of the success this team had in the tournament was how spot on the head coach has been with the substitutions. That also means he has a very complete squad ready to go, which will be needed for this game. The defender Ko Itakura will miss this match after seeing his second yellow card, but Takehiro Tomiyasu should be a reliable replacement for the suspended player.
Japan lineup: Shuichi Gonda; Takehiro Tomiyasu, Maya Yoshida, Shogo Taniguchi, Yuto Nagatomo; W. Endo,Hidemasa Morita;Ritsu Doan,Daichi Kamada, Junya Ito;Daizen Maeda.
Croatia lineup
For the Croatians finishing second behind Morocco wasn’t that bad given the favorable match they have. When it comes to the team, Zlatko Dalic have also been lucky since he will have every player available to start. Dalic will probably repeat the team that sealed the qualification to this round.
Croatia lineup: Dominik Livakovic; Josip Juranovic, Dejan Lovren, Joško Gvardiol, B. Barisic; Luka Modric, Marcelo Brozovic, Mateo Kovacic; Andrej Kramaric, B. Petkovicand Ivan Perisic.
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