ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) – Daenen Maeda gave Japan the lead, then Anthony Elanga scored the lead six minutes later to lead Sweden to a 1-1 tie Thursday night and send both teams to the finals. world cup.
Elanga scored his second goal of the tournament in the 62nd minute with a powerful left-footed shot from just outside the right corner of the box. Elanga has scored just three goals in 49 games for Newcastle, but has zero goals in 32 Premier League games.
Six minutes earlier, Maeda converted a nifty pass from Ritsu Doan into the penalty area with his left foot and easily beat Jacob Videl Zetterström with his right foot.
This was Japan’s seventh goal of the tournament, and the most in the entire World Cup. This surpassed the six points the Japanese scored when they advanced to the last 16 at the Russia tournament eight years ago.
Japan has advanced to the World Cup’s third consecutive group stage for the fifth time in seven tries since becoming the first co-host to advance to the last 16 in 2002. The Japanese team finished in second place in Group F. Netherlands They will then play Brazil in Houston on Monday.
“I think it will be a very good experience for the Japanese soccer world,” coach Hajime Moriyasu said through an interpreter about the match between the 16th ranked team and 5th ranked Brazil. “I believe we have a chance to win and I hope we can take another step towards the next stage.”
The Swedes have reached the knockout stages in the last four times they have qualified for the World Cup, dating back to 1994. The last time soccer’s biggest event was held in the United States, they advanced to the semifinals.
Sweden will have to wait until they find their opponent for next week’s round of 32.
“Probably first we need to get our players back up and make sure they’re physically fit to play whoever they play,” coach Graham Potter said. “We have to pull ourselves together logistically. If you had told me when we first came that that was the challenge we would face, I think I would have absolutely embraced it.”
Elanga had a chance to add to his lead in stoppage time, firing a right-footed shot that was forced into a diving deflection by goalkeeper Zion Suzuki.
On the ensuing corner kick, Suzuki deflected Alexander Isak’s header off the crossbar and into the air, eventually jumping and grabbing it amidst a crowd of players to end the scoring chance.
Among the 70,137 fans in the packed home of the NFL’s Dallas Cowboys, the chorus of Blue Samurai bag-waving chants persisted even as the game went scoreless into the second half. Japan seemed content to play their cards off, hoping for a draw that would have guaranteed them a place in the finals with a win.
Just like that, things changed when Doan put Maeda in the perfect position to score.
Eranga was nowhere near scoring position, but Suzuki appeared to be screened and was delayed in reacting when his shot hit the far post.
Just three minutes later, Isak had a golden chance to score when he crossed into the penalty area, but Suzuki deflected it wide and over the end line, gesturing angrily to some of his teammates as Sweden lined up for another corner kick. The Swedes took eight corner kicks, while Japan took just two.
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