Dominik Livakovic became Croatia's latest penalty hero as they again survived a World Cup shootout on Monday, beating Japan 3-1 from the spot after a turgid 1-1 draw at Al Janoub Stadium.
Goalkeeper Livakovic saved spot-kicks from Takumi Minamino, Kaoru Mitoma and Maya Yoshida to send Croatia through to the quarter-finals.
Goalkeeper Dominik Livakovic produced another Croatian penalty shootout masterclass, and was delighted to have followed in the footsteps of his predecessors.
Livakovic saved three penalties as Croatia triumphed 3-1 on spot-kicks after a 1-1 draw against Japan at Al Janoub Stadium to progress to a quarter-final against Brazil.
Netherlands, Argentina, France and England have already booked their spots in the World Cup quarter-finals — but four last-16 matches are still to come.
On Monday, surprise package Japan take on Croatia and favourites Brazil meet South Korea.
Goals from Ritsu Doan and Ao Tanaka helped Japan reach the World Cup last 16 as Group E winners with a remarkable 2-1 victory over Spain, with La Roja joining them as Germany were dumped out.
With both sides knowing a win would see them advance, Spain wasted little time in hitting the front as Alvaro Morata headed beyond Shuichi Gonda for his third goal of the tournament early on.
Costa Rica produced a late smash and grab to beat Japan 1-0 on Sunday, giving themselves and Germany a potential route back into the World Cup in the process.
A listless contest that looked set to become the sixth stalemate of the tournament so far finally produced something of note when Keysher Fuller curled a shot into the top-left corner with nine minutes remaining.
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