By Andrew Lord
1 December 2022
For the second World Cup in a row, Germany has failed to qualify from the group stage after Japan beat Spain.
Germany had started the game at the bottom of Group E, two points behind second-placed Japan and Costa Rica, who were third in the table.
There had been just one change to the team that started against Spain. Leroy Sané came in to replace West Ham United defender Thilo Kehrer, which meant that Flick started with all seven Bayern Munich players at his disposal. A tactical change saw Joshua Kimmich as right back.
Germany pinned Costa Rica back in the opening ten minutes and created a wealth of opportunities. They were rewarded after 10 minutes when Serge Gnabry headed home a cross from David Raum to put Germany ahead. Just two minutes later came the news that in the other Group E fixture Álvaro Morata had given Spain the lead against Japan. The scores in both games put Germany in second place behind Spain.
Germany continued to dominate, but just before half-time two catastrophic errors by David Raum and Antonio Rüdiger gave Keysher Fuller Costa Rica’s best chance of the game, which Manuel Neuer palmed over the bar.
A shock lead for Japan
The scores in both games remained at 1-0 at half-time. In the second half, Lukas Klostermann replaced Leon Goretzka, with Kimmich moving into centre midfield. Just minutes into the second period, things started to go wrong. Freiburg midfielder Ritsu Dōan equalised for Japan, putting the Samurai Blue back into second place in the group. Germany now needed a second goal.
Then just minutes later Ao Tanaka of Fortuna Düsseldorf gave Japan the lead to put them top of the group. Germany now needed goals to overtake Spain. Hansi Flick reacted by bringing on Niclas Füllkrug for İlkay Gündoğan. But Costa Rica equalised through Yeltsin Tejeda in the 58th minute.
Germany responded immediately with Jamal Musiala, one of the few positives to emerge from the tournament for Germany, twice hitting the post. Then Flick brought on Kai Havertz and Mario Götze for David Raum and Thomas Müller.
Costa Rica take the lead
Then the inconceivable happened. Juan Pablo Vargas scrambled the ball past Neuer to give Costa Rica the lead. Costa Rica now stood in second place in the table behind Japan and ahead of Spain.
But the lead didn’t last long. Havertz levelled things up after 72 minutes and restored Germany’s lead by forcing home a Serge Gnabry cross. Germany remained level on points with Spain, but with an inferior goal difference, the Germans needed the Spaniards to equalise against Japan. With two minutes remaining, Füllkrug scored his second goal of the tournament to make it 4-2, but ultimately it wasn’t enough as Japan held on to win Group E with Spain in second place.
Manuel Neuer reached a milestone with his 19th World Cup appearance as a goalkeeper, overtaking German legend Sepp Maier and Brazilian custodian Claudio Taffarel, who both achieved 18 World Cup appearances.
History was also made as Stephanie Frappart became the first female to referee a men’s World Cup game. The 38-year-old was also supported by two female assistant referees: Neuza Back of Brazil and Karen Díaz Medina of Mexico. It is just the latest in a series of firsts for the French referee.
The line-ups
Germany: Neuer, Kimmich, Süle (Ginter), Rüdiger, Raum (Havertz), Gündogan (Füllkrug), Goretzka (Klostermann), Gnabry, Musiala, Sané, Müller (Götze)
Costa Rica: Navas, Duarte, Waston, Vargas, Fuller (Bennette), Borges, Tejeda (Wilson), Oviedo (Contreras), Aguilera (Salas), Campbell, Venegas (Matarrita)
Japan will now play Croatia in the Round of 16 on December 5, while Spain will face Morocco a day later.
© Andrew Lord 2022
German Football 