Croatia reached the quarter-finals at the World Cup by beating Japan 3-1 on penalties – including three saves from Dominik Livakovic after 120 minutes.
It was the first knockout game to play an additional half an hour in Qatar after a largely even 90 minutes as Japan looked to beat their third successive European opponent following shock wins against Germany and Spain in the group stages.
Both goals came either side of the break. Daizen Maeda (43) gave Japan the lead in the first half after some scrappy Croatian defending, before Ivan Perisic’s (55) powerful header levelled shortly after the restart.
