- Video
-
Club Roar
Captured a great grassroots sporting moment? We want to see it!Content Collections
The Roar Community
- Join
- Login
Germany have exited the World Cup at the group stage for the second tournament in succession after a wild night in Group E in which, at points, all four teams were going through and going out.
In the end, Japan’s 2-1 comeback victory over Spain saw them advance, while Germany’s 4-2 win in a thriller against Costa Rica was not enough to get them into the knockout stages.
Japan top the group and will now play Croatia, while Spain claim second and will face Morocco. Germany and Costa Rica are going home.
The result was met with devastation in Germany. “The end of a great footballing nation” was the headline in Bild, the country’s biggest tabloid.
“Four time winners, twice European champions – but that was once upon a time. The brutal reality is a group stage exit 2018, a quarter-final loss in 2021 and a group stage exit in 2022. Germany is a footballing dwarf! The fact is this: world class doesn’t mean us anymore.”
The Berliner Kurier described it as “more than a disgrace” and said it was the end of the reputation of Germany as a great tournament side.
“Gary Lineker said ‘Football is easy: 22 men chase a ball for 90 minutes and then the Germans win'” they wrote. “But today, the myth of the tournament team is dead. It has been played out, literally.”
Hansi Flick, the German manager, told German TV that his side were not ruthless in front of goal, while resisting calls for him to resign.
“We’ll work that out quickly, it’s difficult to answer now right after the game when we’re eliminated,” he said of his job. “We’ll see about that soon.
“We had no efficiency at this tournament. I’m not speechless. We won our game. If I’m honest, my disappointment is huge.
“We need to get better at player development. We’ve been crying out for number 9s and strong full-backs for years. Defending has distinguished German football for years. We need to get back to the basics.”
As the second halves started, Spain and Germany were both a goal up and going through, but a swift turnaround from Japan saw them top the group. Costa Rica then made it 2-1, and both they and Japan were through, only for Germany to score three and put Los Ticos out. It was however, not enough to save themselves.
The group turned on one crucial VAR decision, where Junya Ito was adjudged to have kept the ball in play when deflecting back inside for the second Japanese goal for Ao Tanaka. In a group of thin margins, this was the thinnest of them all.
Hansi Flick, the German manager, resisted calls to resign and said Germany needed a rethink of the type of players it produced, as had happened after being embarassed at Euro 2004, eventually resulting in the 2014 World Cup-winning generation.
“We’ll work that out quickly, it’s difficult to answer now right after the game when we’re eliminated,” he said of his job. “We’ll see about that soon.
“We need to get better at player development. We’ve been crying out for number 9s and strong full-backs for years. Defending has distinguished German football for years. We need to get back to the basics.”
Deservedly trailing 1-0 at half time, an early salvo in the second half from Japanese substitutes Ritsu Doan and Tanaka turned the game around in just five minutes, before a three goal series in the other game send Group E into overdrive.
(Photo by Robert Cianflone/Getty Images)
News trickled through from Al-Bayt Stadium that Costa Rica had equalised, then took the lead: Yeltsin Tejeda had scored the first and Juan Pablo Vargas the second.
The initial goal forced a holding pattern at the Khalifa as Japan and Spain realised that they were through, but the Vargas strike kicked Spain into gear as it dropped them into third place and the unlikely situation of being knocked out by a team that they had defeated 7-0 in their opening game.
That subsided with Kai Havertz’s swift equaliser, but it was clear that, with Spain playing keep ball and Japan back in the lowest of low blocks, the game being played 50km up the road was just as important.
The tempo in the latter stages was much the same as it had been in the first half. Prior to the break, Spain had kept the ball from Japan with ease and generated chances. Alvaro Morata took one of them, heading in a cross from Cesar Azpilicueta, to put Luis Enrique’s men one up.
Morata might have had another and Dani Olmo fired over from close range, but that was as much as the Spanish had to show for 80% of the ball.
Japan, just as they had against Germany, switched their entire plan at the break. It was the same switch, too, with a move to five at the back, a higher press and Doan introduced into midfield.
It paid off immediately as the substitute profited from a high turnover and leathered a long-ranger past Unai Simon, who might have done better.
Just two minutes later, they were ahead. Again, the press turned the ball over high and, while a cross evaded Daizen Maeda in the middle, it was returned by Junya Ito and bundled home by Tanaka.
There was a long VAR check on whether Ito had kept the ball in before Vitor Gomes was instructed to allow the goal. It was beyond close.
With the state of play in the group set for the final forty minutes, Japan were able to sit in and invite pressure. Spain had withdrawn Morata and lost their central presence, with a lot of passing and very little penetration.
Inevitably, late drama ensued. Havertz, again, and Niclas Fullkrug scored to confirm Germany’s win, but that still required a Spanish goal to lift them into the knockout stages.
Marco Asensio’s shot was saved by Shuichi Gonda, and the rebound was heroically cleared by Maya Yoshida. Gonda, again, got down to deny Olmo. It was enough to send them though, to send Germany out, and to complete one of the most dramatic Groups in World Cup history.