Japan defeated Germany, the 2014 World Cup champion, in their first group match in Qatar. The name of the famous victory “Doha Miracle”. Super substitutions by Hajime Moriyasu made the difference for Samurai blues. The players got off the bench to score the Japanese winning goal, not only in the Germany game, but also in the final match of the group, which witnessed the defeat of the mighty Spain match. By eliminating the Germans in this year’s tournament, they carried the “Death Group” to the top.
Beating the champions and losing to Costa Rica was quite unexpected, which has happened so many times at this World Cup. On the other hand, Croatia took an easy win over Canada despite conceding the fastest ever World Cup goal. They drew with both Belgium and Morocco and confirmed their qualification with 5 points in the group. The runner-up for the last time will expect to finish the tournament better.
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2022 FIFA World Cup Japan Vs Croatia: Team news
No injuries were reported at the Croatian bunker and every player is in good condition. Manager Zlatko Dalic primarily stuck to his trusted assistants throughout the tournaments. Therefore, only a minimal rotation was observed. We hope the same formation used against European giants Belgium will be seen again on the field against Japan.
Takehiro Tomiyasu The Arsenal player is dealing with frustrating injuries that spoiled his tournament appearances alongside Hiroki Sakai. He returned to the field in the second half of the match against Spain but could not risk playing time considering his condition. Senior Sakai can also come to the bench.
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2022 FIFA World Cup Japan Vs Croatia: Possible line-up
Croatia (4-3-3):
Livakovic;
Juranovic, Lovren, Gvardiol, Sosa;
Modric, Brozovic, Kovacic;
Kramaric, Livaja, Perisic.
Japan (3-4-3):
gonda;
Tomiyasu, Yoshida, H Ito;
J Ito, Endo, Tanaka, Nagatomo;
Doan, Asano, Kamada.
2022 FIFA World Cup Japan Vs Croatia: prediction
Japan was unpredictable in the tournament. Former champions and European giants Spain and Germany were in front of them with ball delivery and fast counterattacks. Croatia, on the other hand, has the technical qualities and will be hard to break as they sit a little deeper. Given the unpredictability and nature of this year’s World Cup, Japan could win 2-1.
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