Wednesday , 1 July 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
33% 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
1/1
61-75
–/1
76+
1/1
■ Scored ■ Conceded

Events

Match Events

  • 0' We are underway at Al Janoub Stadium. The crowd does wile while the referee lows the starting whistle.
  • 5' Supporters expect more eagerness from Mateo Kovacic, as he is very good at scoring at Al Janoub Stadium with 0 goals in the last 0 games.
  • 10' Japan started playing very sharply right from the kick off. However, it slowed down the tempo rapidly by 10.
  • 15' Josip Juranovic needs to be pretty careful with his discipline considering 0 Red cards this season.
  • 20' Not even hints on scoring a goal over the last 20 minutes.
  • 25' looks like a favorite considering 0 games won in last 0 matches with its main striker scoring goals.
  • 30' Spectators are craving for more action. Both teams play very cautiously. They need to put some more energy.
  • 35' While there is no rush on the pitch, let’s have a look at some stats. Mislav Orsic made 188 appearances and scored 32 goals. He is very likely to score a goal today.
  • 40' Both teams are passing the ball around with high level of urgency. Croatia needs to do something about it to get closer to the goal.
  • 43' Japan is taking the lead after the goal scored by Daizen Maeda on 43.
  • 44' Daizen Maeda with the second goal in the match!
  • 49' Japan is showing some good football. However, Japan are ready to play back every minute. It might result in some problems for the home side. The game will hardly remain goalless.
  • 54' Although teams showed high tempo form the start, they seem to slow down a bit. Both sides really need to catch a fire. Otherwise, we have another goalless match.
  • 55' Goal! Ivan Perisic scores his 65 goal in 485 matches.
  • 56' Ivan Perisic with the second goal in the match!
  • 61' Japan is defending very well tonight not leaving a chance for their rivals to get through for a goal.
  • 62' The whistle greets Bruno Petkovic as he departs to be replaced by Ante Budimir.
  • 64' Another substitution for Japan to replace Yuto Nagatomo by Kaoru Mitoma on 64 minute.
  • 68' Another substitution for Croatia to replace Andrej Kramaric by Mario Pasalic on 68 minute.
  • 73' We miss some good tackles and strikes. Is there anyone on the field to put the game back to action?
  • 75' The whistle greets Daichi Kamada as he departs to be replaced by Hiroki Sakai.
  • 80' It’s high time Zlatko Dalić made some changes to put the his team’s game back to action.
  • 85' 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 Takehiro Tomiyasu suffering a number of foals already.
  • 87' It is a substitution in Japan team. Ritsu Doan is replaced by Takumi Minamino on 87 minute.
  • 90' It’s gonna be a Yellow card for Mateo Kovacic.
  • Time to leave. No sensation happened. Another win for Croatia players.

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.