Croatia won the first penalty shootout at the 2022 World Cup to progress to the quarter-finals in Qatar against Japan.
The 2018 finalists were held to a 1-1 draw by the Samurai Blue.
Both Japan and Croatia squandered a few early opportunities to score. But, just minutes before the half-time whistle, Daizen Maeda opened the scoring for Japan from a well-worked corner kick.
Early into the second-half, Ivan Perisic put Croatia level 1-1 through a terrific header. The two teams couldn’t be separated in 90 minutes, pushing the match into extra-time for the first time in this edition of the FIFA World Cup. Even in the extra-time, the two teams failed to score and it took a penalty to decide the winner.
The Croatian goalkeeper stepped up in the shootout as his side secured a 3-1 (1-1) win in the penalty shootout.
Japan missed three spot kicks during the shootout while Croatia only missed one.
Croatia will now play either Brazil or South Korea in the last eight.
