Doha (Qatar): Croatia and Brazil Monday moved to FIFA World Cup 2022 Quarters after defeating their rivals Japan and South Korea in the knockout round.
Croatia defeated Japan by penalty shootout 3-1 whereas Brazil moved to last 8 after an emphatic 4-1 win over South Korea.
Goalkeeper Dominik Livakovic was the hero, saving three penalties in the shootout, as Croatia edged past Japan after a 1-1 draw to reach the FIFA World Cup quarterfinals at Janoub stadium.
The Russia 2018 runners-up held their nerve and won the penalty shootout 3-1 as Livakovic kept out the first two efforts before stopping Maya Yoshida's kick, then Mario Pasalic converted the vital effort to take his side through.
At the end of full-time play, the teams were locked one-all and the 30 minutes of extra time also failed to break the deadlock.
On Tuesday, the last round matches of the last-16 stage will take place between Morocco and Spain followed by Portugal and Switzerland.
The Samurai Blue started badly in the penalty shootout with Takumi Minamino and Kaoru Mitoma unable to beat Livakovic, while Marko Livaja's effort hit the post, it did not make much of a difference as Livakovic proved outstanding in the Croatian goal.
Earlier, Croatia came back from a goal down to draw level through Ivan Perisic. The 33-year-old's 55th-minute equaliser was his sixth goal at the World Cup and the first one in Qatar taking his individual tally of international goals to ten.
The Tottenham Hotspur striker, currently playing in his third World Cup, is now tied with Davor Suker as the top goal-scorer at the World Cup, which he scored in the 1998 and 2002 World Cups.
Japan proved beyond any reasonable doubt that they are capable of giving any side a strong game and looked dangerous on the break.
The Europeans have had more possession and an equal amount of shots on target as the Japanese in the first half.
Japan were the livelier side and took a deserved lead two minutes before half-time when Celtic forward Daizen Maeda wherein a whipped cross bounced around in the box and fell to Maeda, who got to the end of the cross to give Japan the much-deserved lead.
Ten minutes after the resumption, Croatia equalized when Perisic unleashed a brilliant powerful header, off Dejan Lovren's cross, into the bottom corner with incredible precision.
Though the official match attendance stood at 42,523 in the nearly 45,000-capacity arena, there were some empty seats in some of the upper tiers of the venue, but the noise made by both teams made it feel like the arena was packed to the brim.
Thereafter, neither side could find a breakthrough and the game ticked into the additional 30 minutes of extra time, with Brighton midfielder Mitoma's spectacular strike pushed over by Livakovic.
At the other end, Marko Livaja's flicked header looked to be looping in, but Shuichi Gonda managed to gather and Lovro Majer dragged a shot in the 120th minute.
The contest went to nerve-shredding penalties, where Livakovic emerged as the man to lead Croatia's celebrations.
A fabulous show of football by Brazil sent South Korea packing in their FIFA World Cup 2022 Round of 16 match at the 974 Stadium in Doha on Monday.
The Koreans were completely outplayed by the Brazilian side in the first half as the South Americans scored 4 goals in a span of 29 minutes. The Asian side could salvage its reputation in the second half, but just, with the help of a 76th minute goal. The match ended 4-1 with Brazil set to take on Croatia in a quarter final clash.
The men in yellow began the assault on their Asian rivals when Vinicius Junior, assisted by Neymar Jr netted home in the seventh minute by a right foot shot. As a sea of yellow cheered their side incessantly in the 40,000-capacity stadium made with shipping containers, Brazil scored the second goal with the help of a penalty taken by Neymar Jr in the 13th minute.
Brazil's third goal came in the 29th minute when Richarlison shot from the centre of the box to make it 3-0. He was assisted by Thiago Silva.
Lucas Paqueta, assisted by Vinicius Junior, made no mistake in the 36th minute to make it 4-0 for the South American side.
Several South Korean fans left the stadium in tears as their team became the last Asian side to exit from the tournament on Tuesday.
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