FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 – Round of 16 – Japan v Croatia – Al Janoub Stadium, Al Wakrah, Qatar – December 5, 2022 Croatia’s Mario Pasalic scores a penalty during the penalty shootout to win the match and qualify for the quarter finals REUTERS/Matthew Childs
AL WAKRAH, Qatar—Goalkeeper Dominik Livakovic saved three spot-kicks as Croatia beat Japan 3-1 in a penalty shootout to reach the World Cup quarterfinals for the third time after an enthralling 120-minute contest finished deadlocked at 1-1 on Monday.
Takumi Minamino, Kaoru Mitoma and Maya Yoshida were all denied by Livakovic before Mario Pasalic coolly sent Japan keeper Shuichi Gonda the wrong way to set up a last-eight date for the Croatians with Brazil or South Korea on Friday.
Three times in the knockout rounds in Russia four years ago Croatia came from behind to advance after extra time before losing to France…
