German world cup hopes take a tumble as Japan, Spain progress to knockouts
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Al Khor: Despite defeating Costa Rica 4-2 on Thursday, Germany lost in the group stage of the World Cup for the second time in a row.
The four-time World Cup champions needed to win but also depended upon Japan's game against Spain in order to advance.
But because Japan then shocked everyone by defeating Spain 2-1, the Germans were eliminated based on goal difference, AFP reported.
When coach Hansi Flick made a flurry of substitutions in the second half in response to the live score of Japan vs. Spain match, Germany briefly fell behind after taking an early lead.
Before Serge Gnabry put his head on Leipzig defender David Raum's looping cross after 10 minutes to open the scoring, the Germans got off to a strong start with Flick's all-Bayern Munich front line pounding the Costa Rica defence early.
Five minutes later, midfielder Leon Goretzka nearly extended Germany's lead, but his header was directed straight at Keylor Navas.
Seven minutes into the second half, rumours began to spread across the enormous Lusail Stadium that Japan had defeated Spain with two swift goals, eliminating Germany from the competition in the process.
Flick reacted quickly, replacing another midfielder with Niclas Fuellkrug and removing Ilkay Gundogan.
At the 58-minute mark, Costa Rica went on the attack, and Germany looked disjointed. The ball rebounded off Neuer and fell to Yeltsin Tejeda, who slammed it home.
As Flick chased the game, he made further adjustments, but Juan Pablo Vargas of Costa Rica scored next, tapping a free kick past Neuer to advance his team past Spain and into the Round of 16. Later, the score was noted as an own goal.
Several minutes later, Chelsea forward Kai Havertz brought Germany back to even.
With the score now 4-2, Havertz and Fuellkrug each added a goal in the 86th and 89th minutes, respectively, but the team's apprehensive attention was still on the group's parallel match.
Germany lost to second-place Spain on goal difference as the game came to a close.
It indicates that Germany, who had not exited the group stage of a World Cup in 80 years before the 2018 competition in Russia, has been eliminated in the group stage for the second straight World Cup.