On a sweltering evening full of twists and turns Japan scrambled into the knockout stage of the World Cup in rather undignified fashion, courtesy of a goal scored 400 miles away in Samara by Colombia’s Yerry Mina and by virtue of the fact they accrued two yellow cards fewer than Senegal.

That is how tight the margins were in Group H, where Japan and Senegal finished with identical records: level on points, goal difference and goals scored. Japan accumulated four bookings compared with Senegal’s six and that – Fifa’s fair-play rule – ended up being the deciding factor that also contributed to a bizarre finish to the match.

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Aware of the scoreline in Samara and under instructions from their manager, Japan played a game of keep-ball inside their half, in effect running down the clock with no intention of trying to score, despite being behind. Japan knew that unless they had a couple of players booked, or Senegal could score an equaliser, or Poland could score again, they were through to the last 16 for only the third time in their history.

Poland, eliminated after losing two matches, also stood back – something Adam Nawalka explained by saying that his team had adopted a “low-press” for the entire match – rendering the final 10 minutes a non-event and angering many supporters. It all felt a little unsavoury and not exactly in keeping with the spirit of the game, prompting loud whistling, with Japan clearly the guiltier party by far, given the scoreline.

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Akira Nishino admitted he had decided to pin everything on the match in Samara and had sent on Makoto Hasebe, who started on the bench but is normally the captain, with instructions to tell the rest of the team to “stay put” and avoid any further yellow cards. Hasebe, in return, asked Nishino to let him know if Senegal scored.

The Japan manager’s plan worked, yet it was obvious he was wrestling with his conscience and wondering whether he had done the right thing. At times in his post-match press conference Nishino seemed be to trying to justify his actions to himself as he gave a rambling answer to the first question that went on for several minutes and ended up with him saying on two occasions that what happened was “regrettable”.

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“It was a very tough decision, of course,” said Nishino, whose team will face Belgium in Rostov-on-Don on Monday evening. “There was ‘What if?’ on our pitch. There was another ‘What if?’ on the other pitch, and what I chose was to stay put and keep the status quo. So I decided I was going to rely on the other match’s result. I think the players were to some extent settled and content with the status quo. What if we conceded another goal and it was 0-2? I suppose the final message I sent to the players was to stay put and the players listened to me. They were booing in the stadium and I’m sure the players heard that. I feel that was very regrettable.”

As well as Japan played against Senegal, when they twice came from behind to deservedly draw 2-2, good fortune has been on their side. In Japan’s opening game, Colombia had a player sent off and conceded a penalty within three minutes, and if Robert Lewandowski had buried a golden chance to extend Poland’s lead in the second half, Nishino and his players would be heading home.

Nishino adopted a curious approach in more ways than one. As well as leaving Hasebe on the bench, he started without Shinji Kagawa, their talisman, and Takashi Inui, who has arguably been their best player at these finals. When Inui was introduced, midway through the second half, Japan were a goal behind and Nishino looked decidedly uneasy on the touchline.

It was an awful goal to concede and highlighted a clear weakness in the Japan defence. Rafal Kurzawa delivered a free-kick from left to right that Hiroki Sakai, Gotoku Sakai and Yuya Osako all stood and watched. Jan Bednarek, arriving on the edge of the six-yard box, side-footed home a powerful right-footed volley that gave Eiji Kawashima, the Japan goalkeeper, no chance.

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At that point Japan were going out. The damage would have been worse had Lewandowski, who played like a man who could not wait to get back to his room to pack his suitcase and head home, converted Kamil Grosicki’s centre. That miss was a reprieve for Japan and then came another with the news Colombia had scored.

As for Poland, it will be small consolation to their fans that they signed off their last match at the World Cup with a victory. Ranked eighth in the world and viewed as dark horses before a ball had been kicked, Lewandowski and his teammates were a huge disappointment in Russia and will return to Poland wondering what might have been.

“A win can offer a little bit of joy to Poland fans and the team and coaches,” Nawalka said. “But this is not to try to sweeten the bitter loss of the first two matches.”