After finishing first in the tournament’s perceived Group of Death, Japan will be looking to claim another scalp this time in the name of Croatia as the two nations face each other in the Round of 16 of the 2022 Qatar FIFA World Cup.The Blue Samurai have lived up to the tag of dark horses after registering memorable wins over pre-tournament favourites Germany and Spain to seal qualification to the Round of 16 for only their fourth time in history.Lucky punter Macron – predicts France would top Poland 3-1 and Giroud, Mbappe and Lewa would scoreHajime Moriyasu is on the cusp of history as he could become the first coach to guide Japan to the quarter finals of the tournament after falling short in the last 16 in their three previous occasions.In contrast fashion, Croatia have never lost a Round of 16 tie after advancing past the Group Stage back in 1998 and 2018 editions and went on to seal a place in the semi-finals on both occasions.##NAJAVA_MECA_6862161##The Blazers are in good form despite drawing two blanks in the Group Stage against Belgium and Morocco as they are unbeaten in nine of their last 10 FIFA World Cup matches.A win for Japan however will make them just the third nation in World Cup history to win two different games at a single tournament in which they were losing at half-time after Brazil in 1938 and West Germany in 1970.##NAJAVA_MECA_6865805##The impressive statistic comes with some good luck charm as on both occasions West Germany and Brazil reached the semi-finals.Japan’s blueprint in the tournament has been founded on counter attacking and tactical substitutions in the second half that changed the game for them against Spain and Germany.Sterling had to leave the English side as armed invaders raided his homeMoriyasu will be without the services of Ko Itakura who was suspended for the match due to an accumulation of yellow cards while Croatia’s Zlatko Dalić will have his full squad at his disposal.The match is slated for a 6 PM (EAT) kick off at the Al-Janoub Stadium on Monday.QATAR 2022 WORLD CUPROUND OF 16Tuesday18:00: (7.25) Morocco (3.70) Spain (1.62)22:00: (2.00) Portugal (3.40) Switzerland (4.30)***odds are subject to change
