Japan has already taken down World Cup giants in Germany and Spain, but it will have to dispatch the 2018 runner-up in Croatia if it hopes to continue its dream run.
Widely written out of a knockout appearance before the tournament, the Samurai Blue stunned the world with massive upsets to win Group E, despite losing to last-place Costa Rica, helping send home Germany in the process. Japan will have plenty of motivation against Croatia as the side looks to advance to the World Cup quarterfinals for the first time.
Croatia, meanwhile, didn’t look all too sharp in its three World Cup matches that featured scoreless draws against Morocco and Belgium and a drubbing of Canada.