Qatar World Cup: Four-time champions Germany loses to Japan

Doha: Japan has beaten four-time champion Germany 2-1 in their World Cup opener on Wednesday.

Germany took the lead in the first half through a penalty from Ilkay Gundogan. But Japan equalised through substitute Ritsu Doan in the 75th minute. Eight minutes later, Takuma Asano scored another goal. Gundogan tried to score many goals but Japan's tested goalkeeper Shuichi Gonda kept them out. Maya Yoshida also kept a goal out by throwing his body on its way.

Germany will now play against Spain and Costa Rica in Group E.

German player Thomas Müller said after the match that he is in shock. "I'm still a bit baffled because, the way we played, those are the sort of games you normally win. We were the dominant side and hardly gave anything away either with or without the ball. I felt we played an intensive game. But it's difficult to win when you don't take your chances going forward and then concede goals like that at the back. Now we need to make sure we shake ourselves off, recover physically and make sure we approach the Spain game to win," he told German broadcaster ARD.

Football fans were surprised yesterday also when Argentina lost to Saudi Arabia. After Germany's loss, many shared memes on Twitter. When some fans drew parallels between Argentina and Germany, another compared Japanese players to badass anime characters. Some are also speculating about the German team's mindset after finding out they will have to play against Spain now.