Kuala Lumpur: Japan came within a penalty shoot-out of reaching the FIFA World Cup quarter-finals for the first time at Qatar 2022.
Head coach Hajime Moriyasu had unhesitatingly stated that the last eight stage was his target, with Japan having fallen in the Round of 16 on three previous occasions.
Group stage results
vs Germany 2-1
vs Costa Rica 0-1
vs Spain 2-1
Japan couldn't have asked for a more difficult start to their Group E campaign with Germany their opponents.
The four-time champions were determined to redeem themselves after their group stage exit in Russia 2018 and dominated the opening half at the Khalifa International Stadium, going in front through an Ilkay Gundogan penalty just after the half-hour mark.
Japan, however, refused to buckle and pulled themselves back into the tie through Ritsu Doan with 15 minutes to play.
Fellow substitute Takuma Asano (pictured below, right) then turned the game on its head with seven minutes remaining when he fired into the roof of the German net to secure a win for the ages on yet another historic day for Asian football in Qatar.
The result meant Japan could seal their place in the Round of 16 with a win over Costa Rica but despite dominating from start to finish, they were unable to take their chances as they succumbed to a 1-0 loss.
That meant all four Group E teams went into Matchday Three still in the running for the knockout stage and it proved to be a nerve-wracking affair which ended with Japan stunning yet another former world champion to not only qualify but finish top of the group.
Alvaro Morata put Spain ahead in the 11th minute but Japan's famous resilience was on full display as Doan (48th) and Ao Tanaka (51st) scored in quick succession as the East Asian side finished on six points with the Spaniards pipping Germany to second spot.
Round of 16
Japan 1-1 Croatia
(AET, Croatia won 3-1 on penalties)
A historical place in the quarter-finals looked to be in Japan's reach as a vibrant performance in the first half saw Daizen Maeda give them the advantage heading into the break.
Croatia, the 2018 runners-up, fought back in the second with Ivan Perisic's header in the 55th minute taking the game to a penalty shoot-out.
The European side were lethal from the spot while Takumi Minamino, Kaoru Mitoma and Maya Yoshida missed as Croatia advanced to the quarter-finals with a 3-1 win as Japan missed out yet again on a place in the quarter-finals.
Japan coach Hajime Moriyasu said, "We weren't able to overcome this hurdle of losing in the last 16 and you might say that we didn't achieve anything new.
"But the players have shown us something that we haven't seen before by beating former champions like Germany and Spain."
Source: AFC
