In order to advance to the next round of the World Cup in Russia, Japan played a match against Poland. Out of the four teams playing in the league group, only two teams can advance to the next round of the tournament. At this point, Japan had gained one victory and one draw, so would be able to advance even if they drew with Poland. Scoring no victories and having been defeated twice, Poland had already lost its chance to advance. However, as Poland’s FIFA ranking was 8th as opposed to Japan’s 61st, they felt they had to win so as not to lose face. As the match drew to a close, Japan’s score stood at 0-1, but the Japanese players suddenly stopped advancing towards Poland’s goal, instead passing the ball amongst themselves. Meanwhile, in the same group during a match that began at the same time as Japan’s, Columbia scored a goal against Senegal making the score 1-0. Poland’s players, who were simply hoping to win the match, also didn’t move towards the opposing team’s goal. This tedious situation continued for over 10 minutes till the end of the game, drawing boos from the spectators. If both games ended this way, Japan and Senegal would be tied with the same scores. However, Japan would be able to advance because they had fewer fouls. However, if Senegal scored one goal, or if any Japanese players received two yellow cards, Senegal, rather than Japan would advance. Afraid to lose a point by advancing towards the opponent’s goal, the team’s coach NISHINO Akira bet that both games would end with no change in the score. His plan was successful. While Japan has been praised for putting a high value on fair play, it has also been criticized for its overly-cautious tactics.