Japan v Croatia prediction and team news: Who will win Round of 16 game?
Our predictions for Japan v Croatia in the World Cup 2022 Round of 16, including who we think will win and predicted line-ups.
Croatia and Japan are next up at the World Cup 2022 as they enter the Round of 16 with high hopes.
Of course, 2018 finalists Croatia have been here before very recently. Four years ago, they topped a group containing Argentina, before dispatching Denmark, Russia and England en route to the final showdown.
Back in 2022, a number of the same squad members remain, including Luka Modric and Ivan Perisic, while young defender Josko Gvardiol has proven himself as one of the stars of this tournament so far.
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Japan have now reached the Round of 16 in four of their seven appearances at the World Cup dating back to 1998.
However, they have never progressed to the quarter-finals and will need to punch in an historic performance to reach the final eight.
RadioTimes.com brings you our predictions and team news for Japan v Croatia in the World Cup 2022 Round of 16.
For more World Cup features check out: World Cup 2022 kits ranked | World Cup 2022 stadiums | World Cup 2022 fixtures | Best players in the world 2022
When is Japan v Croatia?
Japan v Croatia will kick off at 3pm on Monday 5th December 2022.
Check out all the games coming up with our World Cup TV schedule guide.
Japan v Croatia team news
Japan predicted line-up: Gonda; Tomiyasu, Taniguchi, Yoshida; Ito; Morita, Tanaka, Nagatomo; Doan, Maeda, Kamada
Croatia predicted line-up: Livakovic; Juranovic, Lovren, Gvardiol, Barisic; Kovacic, Brozovic, Modric; Kramaric, Livaja, Perisic
Japan v Croatia prediction
In a sea of Saudi Arabian, South Korean, Cameroonian and Moroccan upsets, Japan have arguably been the shock team of the tournament so far.
They defeated Germany and Spain to win the closest thing to a Group of Death this time around and while they enter this one as underdogs once again, they will relish that tag.
Saying that, Germany and Spain are teams in transition. The Germans are struggling to replace their old core, while Spain are still bedding in their next generation. Croatia are a team drawing to an end of their current cycle but have enough left in the tank for one final blast in the knockout rounds.
The Croatians are wily, street-smart and know how to eke out knockout results. Expect them to do the same here, but it won't be a simple task.
Our prediction: Japan 1-2 Croatia (17/2 at bet365)
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Japan v Croatia odds
In working partnership with the Radio Times, bet365 has provided the following betting odds for this event:
bet365 odds: Japan (29/10) Draw (12/5) Croatia (1/1)*
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Authors
Michael Potts is the Sport Editor for Radio Times, covering all of the biggest sporting events across the globe with previews, features, interviews and more. He has worked for Radio Times since 2019 and previously worked on the sport desk at Express.co.uk after starting his career writing features for What Culture. He achieved a first-class degree in Sports Journalism in 2014.
