Japan advance to round of 16 after dramatic night in Group E
Japan’s 2-1 win over Spain on Thursday knocked Germany out of the World Cup with the Samurai Blue topping Group E as Germany fails to advance to the round of 16 for the second consecutive time despite beating Costa Rica in their final game.
Day 12 of the World Cup just may have been the day for big upsets. In both evening matches, it seemed at half time that previous World Cup champions Spain and Germany would easily earn their spots in the final 16. But when the final whistle blew, it was Japan that jumped to the top of Group E and Germany that were headed home.
And that was not even the end of the drama, with Spain also coming perilously close to joining Germany on an early flight as both Japan and Costa Rica came alive in the second half.
In the match between Japan and Spain, it was Spain that drew first blood. Just 11 minutes into the match, Alvaro Morata jumped to head a cross home for his third goal of the 2022 World Cup.
But Japan rallied after half time as Ritsu Doan equalized in the 48th minute, shooting with his left foot from outside the box just three minutes after being substituted on.
It seemed Japan had figured out their opponent as just three minutes later, Ao Tanaka was back at it, adding another goal for Japan from close range to take the score to 2-1.
What eventually became Japan’s winning goal was a controversial one as the ball had appeared to cross the line and gone out before being picked up by Doan on the right-edge of the penalty area and fired across towards the goal. Tanaka’s knee connected with to the ball and drove it into the net.
The linesman had flagged the ball to be out, but referee Victor Miguel de Freitas Gomes checked with the VAR room through his earpiece to award the goal without checking the monitor for himself.
The ball is defined to be out according to the IFAB when it has wholly passed over the goal line or touchline on the ground or in the air. That includes the curvature of the ball, meaning that even if the part of the ball touching the ground appears to be completely over the line, any part of the sphere still over the line is in.
Controversial or not, that goal gave Japan a ticket to the knockout stage, the team’s fourth time-ever, and an easier route through the round of 16 as the top-place finishers. Japan previously advanced in 2002, 2010 and 2018.
While Japan have never gone further than the round of 16, this may be the year that they have a chance after beating strong countries like Germany and Spain. On Nov. 23, Japan had also come from behind to beat Germany 2-1 with both goals scored in the second half.
Japan is now only the third team in World Cup history to be losing at half-time then come back to win two matches at the same World Cup tournament, after Brazil in 1938 and West Germany in 1970.
Germany, on the other hand, were sent packing despite beating Costa Rica 4-2 in their final group stage match as they finished third in Group E. For a traditional football powerhouse like Germany, this a difficult way to exit the World Cup stage.
After opening the scoring in the 10th minute, Costa Rica scored the equalizer only 13 minutes into the second half.
Germany rallied with three more chances including a Kai Havertz’s brace, but also added an own goal to end the match with 4-2 on the scoreboard.
Germany were not the only supposed football powerhouse to exit the tournament early, with Belgium also failing to advance after being held to a 0-0 draw against Croatia on Wednesday.
Belgium needed a win against Croatia to advance and despite all eight of Belgium’s all-time most-capped players being part of the 2022 World Cup squad, they were unable to score a single goal.
As of press time, 14 countries have qualified for the round of 16. The 14 countries advancing are the Netherlands, England, Argentina, France, Senegal, the United States, Poland, Australia, Brazil, Portugal, Croatia, Japan, Spain and Australia.
With just two spots left, the six countries still in contention are Cameroon, Ghana, Serbia, Korea, Switzerland and Uruguay.
The round of 16 bracket is set except two matches. In the knockout stage, the Netherlands will face the United States, Argentina will face Australia, France will face Poland, England will face Senegal, Japan will face Croatia and Morocco will face Spain.
BY YUN SO-HYANG [yun.sohyang@joongang.co.kr]