Croatia beat Japan in penalty shootout

Al Wakrah: Croatia defeated Japan 3-1 in a penalty shootout to reach the quarter-finals here today. Earlier, Dazen Maida scored from a short corner just before the first half to give Japan the lead. Shortly after, Ivan Perisic scored a goal to level the score. After the allotted 90 minutes, both the teams could not score a goal even in extra time twice. After this, the match was decided through penalty shootout.

Earlier, Japan finished first in Group E with a total of six points with a loss and two wins, while Croatia reached the pre-quarterfinals with five points in Group ‘F’. In the quarter-finals, Croatia will face the winner of the match between Brazil and South Korea.