In a battle of focus, Japan and Croatia are equal in strength, and the pre-match winning percentage of the two teams is almost indistinguishable. A British data media boldly predicted that the two teams will be tied 1-1 in the penalty shootout. But the predictor seems to be more optimistic about the Japanese team in the penalty shootout overturned. However, the Croatian goalkeeper Rilivakovic was like a beast, continuously pouncing on the penalty kicks of Takumi Nanno, Ma Yoshida and three players. In the end, Croatia won 3-1 against all odds, and Japan hated the match.
The match between South Korea and Brazil was even more dramatic. In the first half alone, Korea was peppered with four goals by Brazil, with Neymar, Richardson, Paqueta and Vinicius each scoring a goal. The Brazilians were like samba dancers, scoring a goal every 9.25 minutes on average. In the second half, South Korea recovered a goal, but there was no way back. Before the match, the Korean media had made a bold statement, "We only have an 11% chance of advancing to the top 16." As a result, they did, and now they have a 15.99% probability of winning against Brazil, but they still failed to create a miracle.
All three AFC teams failed to break through the top 16 threshold, which may signal the rise of the Japanese men's soccer team. They lost 2-3 to Belgium in the last edition of the tournament, but they showed a strong desire for revenge this time around.
