The second part of the Round of 16 of the FIFA World Cup began on December 5, 2022, as Japan and Croatia went head-to-head at the Al Janoub Stadium.
Both teams appeared to be evenly balanced, making it difficult to pick a favourite before kickoff.Last year's runners-up, Croatia, did not seem to be at the peak of their capabilities during the group stages, having drawn against a team like Morocco in a game which they were clear favourites to win and only barely surviving Belguim.
Whereas on the other end, Japan seems to be in red-hot form, coming into the round of 16 with wins over Spain and Germany. Both teams, however, looked equally balanced on the field before Japan broke the deadlock in the 43rd minute just before halftime thanks to a goal from Daizen Maeda. However, during the 55th minute, Croatian forward Ivan Perisic levelled the game for Croatia, resulting in the score remaining 1-1 up until full time. Croatia beat Japan by a score of 1-3 to advance to the quarterfinals.
The next game was played between Brazil and South Korea, Brazil loosing 1-0 to Cameroon in their last group stage game raised many questions about their form.However with the return of Star Player Neymar,Brazil dominated the South Koreans throughout the game, winning by a score of 4-1. There were goals from four different players for Brazil, including Young Vinicius Jr., the returning Neymar, and even Richarlson. Brazil were up 4-0 at halftime and only gave away one goal in the 75th minute thanks to a beautiful strike from SH Paik, who gave the Korean supporters something to cheer about.
Brazil and Croatia will now face each other in the quarterfinals on the 9th of December at the Education City Stadium in Doha at 830 p.m. (IST).
