Croatia held their nerve to progress to the quarter-finals of the World Cup on Monday afternoon. Bayern defender Josip Stanišić was left out of the squad for the last-16 tie against Japan, which had to be decided by a penalty shootout, with the Croatians winning 3-1. The Samurai Blue had taken the lead through Daizen Maeda just before half-time, which was cancelled out by ex-Bayern man Ivan Perišić 10 minutes into the second half. After a goalless extra-time period, it came down to penalties, where goalkeeper Dominik Livaković was the hero for Croatia, saving three out of Japan's four spot-kicks. Stanišić and Co now take on tournament favourites Brazil in the quarter-finals on Friday (16:00 CET).
Stanišić joins three of his French teammates in the last eight:
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