Europe 1 with AFP 6:48 p.m., December 05, 2022
Croatia, reigning vice-world champion, had to go through a penalty shootout to overcome Japan (3 pens to 1, 1-1 aet) Monday in Doha and qualify for the quarter-finals of the World Cup.
The Japanese, on the heels of their unexpected success against Germany then Spain in the group stage, had opened the scoring at the end of the first half by Daizen Maeda but Ivan Perisic brought his team up (55th) before qualifying is decided on penalties, during which Dominik Livakovic took out three Japanese attempts.
The Croats will face Friday for a place in the semi-finals the winner of the match between Brazil and South Korea, scheduled for the evening (8:00 p.m.).
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