World Cup 2022: Croatia beats Japan, Brazil thrashes South Korea

It’s been another big day for the World Cup. 

Four teams battled it out to decide who would advance into the quarter-finals. Only one European team played on Monday: Croatia, who faced their first Asian team of the World Cup, Japan.

Here’s Euronews’ snapshot of today’s football. 

Croatia – Japan (1 – 1) (Croatia won 3 – 1 on penalties)

• Croatia beat Japan 3 – 1 on penalties. The Japanese squad scored the match’s first goal in the first half and were leading until the 70th minute when Croatia equalised, bringing the count to 1 – 1. 

• Extra time was fruitless for both sides, forcing a nail-biting penalty shoot-out. Japan crumbled under the pressure, with Croatia storming ahead to put 3 in the net compared to Japan’s 1. 

• Croatia will head into the quarter-final on Friday, where they will play Brazil who beat South Korea. 

• The European team, the smallest country in the final 16 with a population of only 4 million, was the runner-up four years ago against France and finished third in 1998.

• Japan qualified as group winners after two unexpected victories against former world champions Germany and Spain.

• This was their fourth appearance in the knockout stage, still without a victory. 

• The match was the first time Croatia played an Asian team in a World Cup knockout match after eight previous games against European teams.

Brazil vs South Korea (4 – 1)

• Brazil thrashed South Korea on Monday night, beating them 4 – 1. 

• The Brazilian side dominated the game, chalking up a 3-nill lead in the first half. South Korea managed to close the gap by scoring their first and only goal in the 76th minute. 

• They will face Croatia on the pitch next. 

• Brazilian superstar Neymar was unphased by his ankle injury which had threatened to keep him out of the rest of the World Cup. He scored the first goal. 

• South Korea head coach Paulo Bento had warned Brazil that his team will fight “to the utmost of our efforts” to beat the 5-time world champions. But it seems the tough-talking was not enough. 

• The two teams had never played each other in a competitive match but did meet in a friendly international in Seoul back in June.

• South Korea was trying to advance past the round of 16 for the first time since the historic run as a co-host in 2002, when it reached the semifinals and finished fourth. 

• The Asian team was eliminated in the group stage in 2014 and 2018.