Japan vs Croatia Prediction | Match Preview and Statistics
No one could have predicted Japan qualifying for the Round of 16 before the start of the tournament, especially from the first place of Group E. Samurai Blue have toppled such football nations as Germany and Spain and now find themselves facing the current world’s runner-up, Croatia.
It is a matchup that we did not expect, but we are surely getting a very interesting game with lots of goals. Our Japan vs Croatia prediction see this as a spectacle, and who knows, maybe even another surprise result.
Japan vs Croatia – Form and Team News
Japan gave one of the most surprising performances in the tournament’s history. They staged two of the most thrilling comebacks against the unlikeliest opponents. The games against Germany and Spain were almost copy/past performances by the Samurai Blue team. They won both of their games by 2:1, after going down first and then coming back from behind to win.
After losing their second game against Costa Rica by 1:0, Japan needed a win against the highly-favoured Spain to advance further. It’s exactly what they did. Even after Morata gave Spain the lead in the 11th minute, the Japanese team didn’t back down. Doan and Tanaka scored two goals in three minutes to shock both Spain and the world. It also meant that Germany was out of the tournament for the second time in a row in the group stages.
Croatia had a much tougher task in their final group stage game. They played against Belgium but managed to hold out for a 0:0 draw and go further as the second team in the group. In their previous matches, they had another goalless draw versus Morocco and defeated Canada by 4:1.
The lifeless Belgium side basically eliminated themselves from the tournament and basically marked the end of their golden generation.
Japan vs Croatia – Starting Lineups
There are no injuries or missing players on both sides. So we should expect both managers to come out with full force in this match.
- Japan: (GK) Shuichi Gonda; (DEF) Shogo Taniguchi, Maya Yoshida, Ko Itakura, Yuto Nagatomo; (NID) Daichi Kamada, Hidemasa Morita, Ao Tanaka; (ATC) Takefusa Kubo, Hiroki Ito, Daizen Maeda.
- Croatia: (GK) Dominik Livakovic; (DEF) Dejan Lovren, Borna Sosa, Josko Gvardiol, Josip Stanisic; (MID) Mateo Kovacic, Marcelo Brozovic, Luka Modric; (ATC) Andre Kramaric, Ivan Perisic, Mislav Orsic.
Japan vs Croatia – Betting Tips
With what happened in the group stages, Japan is not an underdog as you would expect them to be. In fact, a straight-up win on Croatia stands at 2.10 odds, which is not so bad to consider. But our Japan vs Croatia prediction does favour the Croatian team.
Samurai Blue have played really well until now, but it is hard to predict another game like the previous one. Yet, we do propose considering Both Sides to Score at 3.25. We may get more goals in this one, so a range of 4+ at 4.33 is a market to have in mind.
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