Japan showed they have the "guts" to compete at the World Cup, defender Yuto Nagatomo said Thursday, after the Blue Samurai stunned Spain to advance to the last 16.

Japan upset both Germany and Spain to finish top of Group E, digging deep to come from behind to grab gritty victories in both games.

Hajime Moriyasu's side will now face Croatia in the last 16 and Nagatomo believes they can pull off another shock against the 2018 World Cup finalists.

"No one in the world believed that Japan would finish top of this group -- no one," said Nagatomo.

"But we believed, and we believed during the game today. We showed the world what Japanese guts looks like."

Nagatomo said the game went "according to plan" despite Spain scoring an 11th-minute opener through Alvaro Morata.

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