Dramatic developments at the end of Group E World Cup 2022
The situation of Group E changed up to seven times through a total of nine goals in the last two matches on the evening of December 1, when all four teams were in the next group at times. In which there are about three minutes Japan and Costa Rica topped respectively, while Spain and Germany will be eliminated.
Before the last round, Spain led, Japan second, and Germany ranked last. But in the 10th minute, the game changed for the first time when Serge Gnabry opened the scoring for Germany against Costa Rica, helping them climb to second in the group and push Japan down to third. A minute later, Alvaro Morata opened the scoring for Spain against Japan, reinforcing the chances of going forward for the two European representatives.
But in the 48th minute, Japan equalized 1-1 against Spain thanks to Ritsu Doan's long shot. At that time, Japan and Germany both had four points, scored three and conceded three goals, but the Asian representative stood above due to more confrontation.
Just three minutes later, Ao Tanaka cushioned the close to help Japan lead Spain 2-1. Hajime Moriyasu's army even climbed to the top of the table, pushing Spain down to second. That is also the final score of this match, but the situation of Group E has not been reused there.
In the 58th minute, Costa Rica equalized 1-1 against Germany thanks to midfielder Yeltsin Tejeda. The Central American representative rose to third and pushed Germany to the bottom of the table. In the 70th minute, goalkeeper Manuel Neuer's own goal caused Germany to lead 1-2 backwards. Thanks to that, Costa Rica climbed to second in the group and pushed Spain down to third. If that score stays the same for the rest of the game, Costa Rica will go through with a goal difference of -5.
But the table situation changed again in the 73rd minute, when Kai Havertz equalized 2-2 for Germany. That goal put Spain back in second place, pushing Costa Rica down to third. Havertz scored a brace in the 85th minute to help Germany get out of the bottom of the table, but still only finished third. Niclas Fullkrug's 4-2 winning goal in the 89th minute was not enough to help Germany continue, because they need to score five more goals.
In the end, Japan topped with two wins against Germany and Spain but lost to Costa Rica. Spain finished second, just enough to enter the round of 16 of the 2022 World Cup against Morocco. Germany is equal to Spain but is behind, due to a poor goal difference.
Germany have been eliminated in the group stage of the World Cup for the second time in a row, and it is the third time in their history that they have fallen into that situation. And Japan for the first time in history has qualified for the group stage two times in a row, and for the second time they topped the group after co-hosting in 2002.
