Germany knocked out of FIFA World Cup 2022: How the drama unfolded in Qatar

The German national football team was knocked out of the FIFA World Cup 2022 in Qatar despite a 4-2 win over Costa Rica in its final Group E match on Friday.

This was the second successive time that Germany, four-time champions, crashed out of the FIFA World Cup in the group stage - a big surprise considering their superpower status in the game and the abundance of talented players in their team.

There are some interesting parallels in the unceremonious exits. At the 2018 World Cup in Russia, it was two extra-time goals by South Korea in the final group game that knocked Germany out and at Qatar 2022, another Asian team, this time Japan, was behind Die Mannschaft’s undoing.

Germany’s campaign at FIFA World Cup 2022 in Qatar

Heading into the FIFA World Cup 2022 in Qatar, Hansi Flick’s Germany were one of the favourites for the title despite their shock group stage exit from Russia 2018.

Though Germany’s performance at the UEFA Nations League was somewhat underwhelming, Manuel Neuer and Co. had stormed through the UEFA zone qualifiers, topping Group J with nine wins and just a single loss. Barring a shock 2-1 upset against Northern Macedonia, the 2014 world champions had hardly put a foot wrong.

Their qualifying campaign also included a 9-0 drubbing of Liechtenstein in what was the biggest win for the German national team in 15 years.

Drawn in Group E with Spain, Costa Rica and Japan in Qatar, Germany were expected to get through the FIFA World Cup 2022 group stage with relative ease as both Costa Rica and Japan are considered minnows in world football.

Things seemed to be going according to plan as Germany took the lead thanks to an Ilkay Gundogan penalty in their opening group game against Japan. The German team looked to be in cruise control for 75 minutes until substitute Ritsu Doan brought Japan level against the flow of the game.

Takuma Asano scored eight minutes later to complete what was one of the most famous victories for the Japanese national football team.

Having been shocked in their opener, the Germans needed a response in the second game and it came, but without the end product. Up against Spain, who had drubbed Costa Rica 7-0 in their opener, Germany looked the better team but could only manage a come-from-behind 1-1 draw. 

Costa Rica beating Japan 1-0 against all odds in their second match threw Group E wide open with all four teams in with a chance of clinching a Round of 16 berth.

Heading into the final round of group game against Costa Rica, Germany needed to win their match and hope for a favourable result from the other match between Japan and Spain to go through.

The ideal scenario for Germany would have been a loss for Japan vs Spain, which would see them advance if they won against Costa Rica. A draw between Spain and Japan would mean goal difference would come into play to decide who among Germany and Japan would advance as the second-placed team from the group behind Spain.

In case of a Japan win, both Germany and Spain would be tied on four points but the Spanish team would hold the outright advantage since their goal difference heading into the final group game was +7 while Germany’s was -1. Only a huge win for Germany or a huge loss for Spain, or a combination of both, could offset the difference.

So, regardless of other results, a big win over Costa Rica was the need of the hour for Germany.

With both matches kicking off simultaneously, things started well for the Germans as they took an early lead against Costa Rica at Al Bayt Stadium, courtesy a Serge Gnabry strike. Favourable tidings followed shortly from the Khalifa International Stadium, where Spain had taken the lead through Alvaro Morata - one of the joint top scorers in FIFA World Cup 2022.

Things, however, took a sharp turn after half-time. While Japan scored two quickfire goals through Ritsu Doan and Ao Tanaka to go 2-1 ahead, Costa Rica also took an unexpected lead after Yeltsin Tejeda’s equaliser was followed by a Manuel Neuer own goal.

If the scores had remained the same, Japan and Costa Rica would have advanced to the knockouts while Germany and Spain would have crashed out.

With their backs against the wall, Germany fought back with a Kai Havertz brace. Another late goal by Niclas Fullkrug, who also scored in Germany’s draw against Spain, helped the four-time World Cup champions to a 4-2 win.

However, the win went in vain as Japan resolutely held onto their 2-1 lead against Spain and topped the group with six points.

The combination of results meant both Germany and Spain were level on four points but the latter finished over the Germans courtesy of a superior goal difference (+6 for Spain and +1 for Germany) to qualify for the knockouts as the second-placed team.

Germany results at FIFA World Cup 2022: Group stage

• Match 1: Germany 1-2 Japan

• Match 2: Germany 1-1 Spain

• Match 3: Germany 4-2 Costa Rica