The Japanese national team has become the next victim of a special World Cup curse. (NEWS: Everything you need to know about the World Cup)
The Germany shock defeated Croatia 2:4 after penaltieshas to pack his bags early in the World Cup round of 16 after a strong group phase. (DATA: World Cup groups and tables)
The defeat, meanwhile, lingers on an interesting curse that spans the past seven penalty shootouts at a World Cup. Each of these seven games was lost for the team that took the first penalty. (DATA: World Cup schedule 2022)
On Monday, that hit the Japanese, who failed in the person of Takumi Minamino to Croatia keeper Dominik Livakovic. He was followed by Kaoru Mitoma and Maya Yoshida.
Nikola Vlasic, Marcelo Brozovic and Mario Pasalic netted for the Croatians. Marko Livaja was the only one missing from the 2018 Vice World Champion.
Japan took the lead in regular time through Daizen Maeda (43′). Ivan Perisic equalized for Croatia (55th). There was no goal in extra time before coach Zlatko Dalic’s team clinched victory on penalties.
