Wednesday , 30 September 2026

Japan vs Croatia, Worldcup 2022 LAST 16

FIFA World Cup · 2022
Japan
2 – 4
1 – 3 pen
Full Time
Croatia
Mon 5 Dec 2022 · 15:00 UTC Al Janoub Stadium HT 45' · FT 45'
Y 90' Mateo Kovacic
Y 116' Borna Barisic

Overview

Match Preview

Japan vs Croatia — Worldcup at Al Janoub Stadium.

  • Japan 3 games · 5 pts (2026/26)
  • Croatia 3 games · 6 pts (2026/26)

Match Details

  • Referee Julio Bascunan
  • Referee Ismail Elfath
  • Referee Corey Parker
  • Referee Kyle Atkins
  • Referee Nicolas Gallo (Colombia)
  • Referee Mustapha Ghorbal

Standings

# Team P Pts
1 Mexico 3 9
2 South Africa 3 4
3 South Korea 3 3
4 Czechia 3 1
5 Switzerland 3 7
6 Canada 3 4
7 Bosnia-Herzegovina 3 4
8 Qatar 3 1
9 Brazil 3 7
10 Morocco 3 7
11 Scotland 3 3
12 Haiti 3 0
13 United States 3 6
14 Australia 3 4
15 Paraguay 3 4
16 Turkey 3 3
17 Germany 3 6
18 Ivory Coast 3 6
19 Ecuador 3 4
20 Curacao 3 1
21 Netherlands 3 7
22 Japan 3 5
23 Sweden 3 4
24 Tunisia 3 0
25 Belgium 3 5
26 Egypt 3 5
27 Iran 3 3
28 New Zealand 3 1
29 Spain 3 7
30 Cape Verde Islands 3 3
31 Uruguay 3 2
32 Saudi Arabia 3 2
33 France 3 9
34 Norway 3 6
35 Senegal 3 3
36 Iraq 3 0
37 Argentina 3 9
38 Austria 3 4
39 Algeria 3 4
40 Jordan 3 0
41 Colombia 3 7
42 Portugal 3 5
43 Congo DR 3 4
44 Uzbekistan 3 0
45 England 3 7
46 Croatia 3 6
47 Ghana 3 4
48 Panama 3 0

Head-to-Head

1
Japan 1 games · Avg 6.0 goals Croatia
Last 5 meetings
2022-12-05 Japan 2–4 Croatia

Recent Form

Japan
DateOpponentH/A ScoreResult
05 Dec Croatia H 2–4 L
01 Dec Spain H 2–1 W
27 Nov Costa Rica H 0–1 L
23 Nov Germany A 2–1 W
24 Jun Ecuador A 1–1 D
20 Jun Uruguay A 2–2 D
Croatia
DateOpponentH/A ScoreResult
05 Dec Japan A 4–2 W
01 Dec Belgium H 0–0 D
27 Nov Canada H 4–1 W
23 Nov Morocco A 0–0 D
28 Jun Spain H 3–5 L
22 Jun Scotland H 3–1 W

Season Stats

Japan Croatia
#22 Position #46
5 Points 6
3 Played 3
1 / 2 / 0 W / D / L 2 / 0 / 1
7 Scored 5
3 Conceded 5
+4 GD +0
1.67 PPG 2.00
33% Win % 67%

Key Stats

100% Both Teams to Score
H2H (1 games)
100% Over 2.5 Goals
H2H history
25% Clean Sheets
Japan this season
25% Clean Sheets
Croatia this season

Japan are 22nd (5 pts). Croatia are 46th (6 pts).

Goal Timing (This Season)

Japan
0-15
1/–
16-30
1/–
31-45
1/–
46-60
2/2
61-75
1/2
76+
2/1
■ Scored ■ Conceded
Croatia
0-15
–/1
16-30
–/–
31-45
3/1
46-60
2/1
61-75
–/2
76+
1/2
■ Scored ■ Conceded

Top Scorers (This Season)

Japan
Ayase Ueda 2 G 1 A
Daichi Kamada 2 G

Events

Match Events

  • 0' The ball is rolling at Al Janoub Stadium. Japan are looking to make home advantage count against Croatia.
  • 5' A quiet spell here at Al Janoub Stadium. Japan seem content sitting deep and soaking up pressure.
  • 10' The travelling Croatia supporters hardly appreciate their team being pressed down to the backline.
  • 15' Mario Pasalic, a Croatia , has 0 bookings this season and will need to keep his discipline tonight.
  • 20' Players seem to put ease on their energy level Spectators hardly appreciate such approach. Teams need to speed up the tempo.
  • 25' The referee is likely to let players tackle, as he already missed some meaty challenges during opening seconds. He is still to establish what should not be done by the players and what is acceptable on the pitch. It’s going to be a tough game for Andrej Kramaric suffering a number of foals already.
  • 30' The energy levels are beginning to show. Hajime Moriyasu might look to freshen things up shortly.
  • 35' While players are taking a pause, let’s have a look at their stats. The teams met 0 times this season with winning -% of all matches.
  • 40' While there is no rush on the pitch, let’s have a look at some stats. Shogo Taniguchi made 446 appearances and scored 14 goals. He is very likely to score a goal today.
  • 43' Daizen Maeda adds to his 1 season tally! Japan lead 1-0 — and this changes everything.
  • 44' Clinical. Composed. Brilliant. Daizen Maeda makes it 2-0.
  • 49' Ritsu Doan has been one of the livelier players on the pitch with 0 goals to his name this season.
  • 54' It’s high time Hajime Moriyasu made some changes to put the his team’s game back to action.
  • 55' Ivan Perisic adds to his 3 season tally! Croatia lead 2-1 — and this changes everything.
  • 56' Ivan Perisic is having a superb {COMPETITION} campaign — that is 3 goals this season for the .
  • 61' A tactical chess match is unfolding here. The question is which manager blinks first.
  • 62' The crowd applauds Bruno Petkovic as he leaves the pitch. Ante Budimir steps in for Croatia.
  • 64' Japan make a change. Yuto Nagatomo trudges off to be replaced by Kaoru Mitoma on 64 minutes.
  • 68' The Croatia manager makes a substitution. Andrej Kramaric departs to be replaced by Mario Pasalic.
  • 73' Croatia are keeping things exceptionally tight at the back. It will take something special to break them down.
  • 75' Another change for Japan made on 75 minute. Daichi Kamada leaves to be changed by Hiroki Sakai.
  • 80' The clock is ticking and both teams know a goal could change everything at this point.
  • 85' Both keepers have barely been tested. Japan and Croatia are cancelling each other out in the centre of the park.
  • 87' Time for substitution for Japan. Ritsu Doan is replaced by Takumi Minamino.
  • 90' It’s a booking for Croatia player. Mateo Kovacic gets a Yellow card.
  • The referee brings this contest to a close. Croatia take all three points.

Lineups

Japan Lineups

Starting XI

Bench

Coach Hajime Moriyasu

Croatia Lineups

Starting XI

Bench

Coach Zlatko Dalić

Predictions

Prediction accuracy
2 / 4
2.32 Japan xG
Expected Goals
Dixon-Coles · Bivariate Poisson · Neg. Binomial · Elo
2.07 Croatia xG
I would bet for: Over 2.5 goals 80% + Both teams to score 78%

Match Result

✗ Wrong
Japan41% Draw24% Croatia35%
Actual: Croatia win

Both Teams to Score

✓ Correct
Yes78% 0% No22%
Avg goals/match: 4.39
Actual: Yes — both scored

Over / Under Goals

✓ O/U 2.5
Line Over Under
± 0.5 98%
2%
± 1.5 93%
7%
± 2.5 80%
20%
± 3.5 63%
37%
± 4.5 44%
56%

Double Chance

Japan or Draw
65%
Draw or Croatia
59%
Japan or Croatia
76%

Half-Time Result

✗ Wrong
Japan35% Draw36% Croatia29%
Actual: Japan win at HT

Correct Score

✗ 2–4 not predicted
2 – 4
Actual
2 – 2
6.8%
2 – 1
6.8%
1 – 1
6.7%
1 – 2
6.1%
3 – 2
5.3%
3 – 1
5.2%
2 – 3
4.7%
1 – 3
4.1%
3 – 3
3.7%
2 – 0
3.5%
4 – 2
3.1%
4 – 1
3%

Asian Handicap — Japan

Handicap Japan covers Push Croatia covers
-2.5 14% — 86%
-2 14% 13% 73%
-1.5 27% — 73%
-1 27% 17% 56%
-0.5 44% — 56%
+0.5 65% — 35%
+1 65% 16% 20%
+1.5 80% — 20%
+2 80% 10% 9%
+2.5 91% — 9%

Clean Sheet

Japan keeps clean sheet
13% ✓
Croatia keeps clean sheet
11% ✓

Predictions are statistical estimates based on season form, H2H history, and a Poisson model. Not financial advice.