Daizen Maeda’s Japan will play Josip Juranovic’s Croatia in the last 16 of the World Cup after a dramatic day of action at the Qatar tournament.
Japan, remarkably, finished as winners of Group E after beating both Germany and Spain over the last week. Meanwhile, Croatia are also through, drawing with Belgium today to secure their spot as runners-up of Group F.
The match will take place on Monday at the Al Janoub Stadium. It will be the early kick-off on the day at 3pm UK time.
It has yet to be determined whether the BBC or ITV will be showing the fixture, but it’s guaranteed to be one of the two main channels.
With Cameron Carter-Vickers’ USA going up against the Netherlands and Aaron Mooy’s Australia facing a daunting test against Argentina, there’s lots to look forward to for Celtic supporters.
It’s been a World Cup of major shocks so far and I wouldn’t be ruling out any of the players heading into the quarter-finals of the tournament.
All four also have a decent chance of starting their matches too after strong performances in the group stages, with the quartet featuring in their managers’ eleven of at least one match.
Of course, Maeda and Juranovic’s duel means Celtic will have at least one representative in the quarter-finals of the competition too, which will be fantastic down the line.
Another exciting week of football awaits as we count down the days to the Bhoys’ return against Aberdeen on December 17th.
In other news, The Daizen Maeda verdict as Celtic hero’s Japan shock the world yet again.
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