After winning Group E, Japan will face Group F runners-up Croatia

Croatia, who finished second in Group F to Morocco, will play Japan in the round of 16. In Qatar, Japan unexpectedly won Group E after defeating Germany and Spain by scores of 2-1 and 1-0, respectively, while losing to Costa Rica by a score of 1-0. 

Croatia, who finished second to France in 2018, has won four of their eight World Cup knockout round matches (W4 D2) while Japan has never advanced past the round of 16. But Hajime Moriyasu's club has proven itself against elite opponents, and Dalic is aware that his team must maintain discipline if they are to avoid a shock. This will be Japan's third World Cup encounter with Croatia. In the first two, a 1-0 loss in 1998 and a scoreless draw in 2006, both in the group stage, Japan went winless and scoreless.