Germany, Spain failed in Group E

In a group two former champions, Japan ruled it

The football mega-event kicked off in Qatar on 20th November 2022. The 32 competing teams were divided into eight groups.

Group E of the World Cup consisted of Costa Rica, Germany, Spain and Japan.

Let’s have a look at how teams placed in this group performed.

Costa Rica 

By beating New Zealand 1-0 in the intercontinental playoff in June, Costa Rica booked their spot as the 32nd and last team in the FIFA World Cup 2022 in Qatar.

Costa Rica only won one of its first seven qualifiers for this World Cup, but they turned things around by winning six of their next seven and securing a playoff position. With the help of their combined experience, Celso Borges, Bryan Ruiz, Joel Campbell, and Keylor Navas, they were able to get favourable results.

Although it wasn’t going to be an easy task for Los Ticos after being placed in the apparent ‘group of death,’ with former champions Spain and Germany to play against, plus the Asian giants, Japan.

In their first match, the Central American team had Spain to handle, who proved to be too much for them. Spain made a mockery of the Costa Rican side as the latter suffered a huge 7-0 defeat.

Next up for the Bryan Ruiz-led team were Japan. They scored a late winner against the Samurai Blues to leave Group E wide open.

Their next match was again against former title holders Germany. As obvious as it was before the start of the game, everyone knew Germany would easily see off Costa Rica. But it wasn’t that easy after all as they came back hard with two back-to-back goals from Yeltsin Tejeda and Juan Pablo Vargas in the 58th and 70th minute, respectively after Germany had scored the opener in the first half.

The Ticos were ahead in the game before Kai Havertz scored twice and Niclas Fullkrug availed the fourth goal in the 89th minute to go past the Luis Suarez-managed side 4-2.

This meant the end of the road for the Ticos as they headed back from the group stage. The Central American side could not put up an impressive show for the fans as they were expected to.

Grade: B-

Japan 

In their build-up towards the FIFA World Cup 2022, the Samurai Blue resumed their qualifying campaign in March 2021 as they hosted the remainder of their second-round matches behind closed doors before being assigned to a difficult final group that included Saudi Arabia, Australia, Oman, and China.

Despite a sluggish start where Japan lost two of its first three games—at home to Oman and away to Saudi Arabia—Moriasu turned things around with a 2-1 victory over Australia in October. This was followed by five clean-sheet victories, which guaranteed the four-time Asian champions a spot in the Qatar World Cup.

Their campaign began with the opener against Germany who went into the game as clear favourites. Germany controlled the majority of possession and more shots that were on goal, but Japan remained composed when necessary and attacked when they had the chance.

Even after the opening first goal from Germany’s Ilkay Gundogan, the Japanese winger Ritsu Doan scored for his side late in the match in the 75th minute while Takuma Asano extended their lead in the 83rd. However, even after scoring their second goal, Japan didn’t take it easy and kept trying to score. The game ended as an upset for Germany, losing 2-1 to Japan.

The second match that Japan played was against the weakest team in the group Costa Rica, with the Samurai Blue coming off a huge confidence booster by beating Germany. It was rather expected that Japan would easily go past the Ticos. But much to everyone’s surprise, Costa Rica handed a 1-0 loss to their opponents in a game where Fuller scored in the 81st minute for the Central American team.

However, Japan took this loss seriously and wanted to make a comeback from that heartbreak against Spain. The 2010 champions were favourites going into this match. However, Japan stunned the opponents with a 2-1 victory to cement their place in the Round of 16.

Japan met Croatia in the knockout game, where they both scored one goal in the given 90 minutes and the contest entered extra time. They could not score a goal in those 30 minutes and the fate of the game was decided on a penalty shootout, where Croatia got past them.

All in all, Japan played well in the tournament, beating two giants, Germany and Spain at the group stage.

Grade: B+

Spain

Spain’s build-up towards Qatar for the FIFA World Cup 2022 was strong. They weren’t, although, the favourites going into the tournament, they promised to pose a challenge for the top teams in the tournament under Luis Enrique, talented young and experienced players.

Before the event started, the Spanish supporters had anticipated that their team would advance relatively easily to the next stage.

Spain stunned the world in 2010 in South Africa with their possession-based Tiki-Taka style of play, which earned them the world title eventually. The Spanish team dreamt of replicating the same performance in this edition of the event.

Pretty much to their expectations, La Roja, with a 7-0 demolition of Costa Rica in their opening game, sent a message to the top teams that they were a force to reckon with.

The second match was going to be a rather tough one for Spain with the relentless German side as opponents. The first half ended without any goal for either side. However, earlier in the second half, Alvaro Morata gave Spain the lead after coming off the bench, but the German substitute, Niclas Fullkrug, scored past Unai Simon to equal the score. The contest ended in a draw at 1-1.

In the final match of the group stage, Spain squared off with Japan. Álvaro Morata scored his third World Cup goal for the former champions in the 11th minute. However, Ritsu Doan and Ao Tanaka’s two goals, just three minutes apart in the second half, completely changed Japan’s fortunes.

Japan hung on to win the game 2-1 and move to the knockout stage.

However, this loss didn’t affect Spain’s fate of progressing to the Round of 16, where they faced Morocco.

Morocco, the surprise package of this World Cup gave Spain an immensely tough time. Both teams failed to score in all 120 minutes and the game went into the penalties.

On that crucial stage, Moroccan goalkeeper Yassine Bono, put up an incredible show, stopping three penalties from Spanish players, giving his team an emphatic win.

Spain did not play the best football in the World Cup and mainly disappointed the fans.

Grade: C

Germany

Germany had a blend of young and experienced players and the side looked quite promising on paper.

Aiming to win their fifth world title, the Germans prepared to face a relatively inferior side, Japan, in their tournament opener.

Germany outclassed Japan on ball control in the tight first half and had numerous shots on goal. Finally, in the 31st minute, Ilkay Gundogan scored a goal off a penalty awarded against a foul committed by Shuichi Gonda on David Raum.

Germany came close to scoring again, but VAR reversed it. Japan had their opportunities, but they were unable to score a decisive goal before half-time. The story changed in the second half. Japan exhibited more hostility, scoring two in quick succession, courtesy of Takuma Asano and Ritsu Doan. The Blue Samurai managed to oust their strong opposition Germany 2-1.

Next up, in the eagerly anticipated group-stage matchup, Germany faced Spain. Both teams remained goalless at the halfway point. However, Spain finally had enough of the deadlock and scored the game’s opening goal when Álvaro Morata fired a shot into the top corner of the goal. In the 83rd minute, Niclas Füllkrug scored for Germany to make a comeback. Despite that, the game ended in a 1-1 tie.

Germany, in their last encounter with Costa Rica, needed three points to have any chance of progressing to the Round of 16. However, they also needed Spain to win over Japan to make things work. Despite Germany defeating the Ticos 4-2, they were eliminated from the tournament as Japan beat Spain and they finished third on goal difference.

It was an under-par performance from the 2014 champions, to say the least.

Grade: C-