Japan and Croatia will square off in the round of 16 Monday morning for a chance to make the quarterfinal round at the 2022 World Cup. Japan won their group with victories over Spain and Germany to reach this spot, while Croatia held on for a draw against Belgium to secure a spot in the knockout stage. Here’s a look at the starting lineups for both teams.
Japan XI
Shuichi Gonda
Shogo Taniguchi
Yuto Nagatomo
Wataru Endo
Ritsu Doan
Hidemasa Morita
Junya Ito
Daichi Kamada
Takehiro Tomiyasu
Maya Hoshida
Daizen Maeda
This is a veteran unit with Maeda, Doan, Kamada and Gonda leading the way. Takumi Minamino should be a factor later in this contest off the bench.
Croatia XI
Dominik Livakovic
Borna Barisic
Dejan Lovren
Josko Gvardiol
Josip Juranovic
Mateo Kovacic
Luka Modric
Marcelo Brozovic
Ivan Perisic
Andrej Kramaric
Bruno Petkovic
Modric, Perisic and Kramaric headline an experienced squad which return most of their player from the 2018 team which went to the final.