Japan vs Spain LIVE: World Cup 2022 result and reaction as Doan and Tanaka goals send Germany out
Japan staged another thrilling comeback to top Group E - with Spain through in second and Germany out
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Your support makes all the difference.Japan staged their second stunning turnaround of the World Cup when they beat 2010 champions Spain 2-1 on Thursday with two quick-fire goals and advanced to the last 16 along with their beaten opponents.
Going into the halftime break 1-0 down and on course for an early World Cup exit, Japan coach Hajime Moriyasu reorganised his side to give them more attacking bite and within six minutes the Samurai Blue were ahead.
Ritsu Doan, one of the substitutes, hammered in a shot from the edge of the box in the 48th minute that Spain goalkeeper Unai Simon - whose poor clearance had created the danger - could not keep out. Three minutes later, Ao Tanaka scored from close range after the other halftime sub Kaoru Mitoma cut the ball back from the byline.
The breathtaking 2-1 win for Japan - who also beat Germany 2-1 after going behind in their opening match of the tournament - meant they topped Group E, followed by Spain in second who finished ahead of third-placed Germany only on goal difference.
Follow all the reaction with our live blog below
World Cup 2022: Japan vs Spain
The players are out at the Khalifa International Stadium for this crucial Group E decider!
Time for the national anthems!
World Cup 2022: Costa Rica vs Germany
If you want to follow the action from Costa Rica vs Germany - a game the Germans have to win to progress - you can with our live blog below:
Costa Rica vs Germany LIVE: World Cup 2022 latest updates
Germany must defeat Costa Rica or else they will be eliminated from the World Cup
World Cup 2022: Japan vs Spain
The players are back in from their warm-ups - just 10 minutes away from kick-off at the Khalifa International Stadium!
Luis Enrique’s Furia Roja were hit back by Germany last time out, but are still in control and poised to finish first if they can beat Japan, who were stunned by Costa Rica and must win here to stand a chance of making the last 16.
The 2010 champions need a point to guarantee their qualification for the knockout-phase, while half-an-eye will be on the other match in Group E between Costa Rica and Germany!
Luis Enrique, speaking at his press conference yesterday...
“Football is a show, like if you went to the theatre. Fans want to see goals, entertainment. That’s how I interpret football. Other coaches don’t share this, that’s OK, but it’s what I like. We don’t focus on the result, we focus on our path. It’s good vibes, optimism and joy. Maybe it’s excessive optimism.
“If anything goes wrong and I am fired then that’s OK. But if this way fills my players with optimism, then I’m satisfied with it. Until I am proven wrong we have to keep thinking we are the best team and will play seven matches and win. It may not be true but that’s our goal.
“Imagine we think runner-up is better and we have reached the 90th minute with a good 0-0 draw but then five seconds from full time, Costa Rica and Japan both score. In the last 15 seconds, we would be out! Or Germany could win 5-0. Just imagine!
“We are here to win seven matches and win the group. It could be Brazil in the quarters but OK. Let’s play Brazil. At elite level, we cannot speculate. Avoiding Brazil may be easier? Easier in football? What is that? To win a World Cup you have to beat everyone who comes your way. That’s your goal. It’s soon all or nothing. Winner goes home. That’s the greatness of football.”
World Cup 2022: Japan vs Spain
Spain 1-1 Germany - match report
By Miguel Delaney at the Al Bayt Stadium
A draw that might just show why a burgeoning Spain will fall short of winning this World Cup, and prevent Germany from falling out of it. It’s that fine a line, from an enthralling 1-1 draw.
Hansi Flick’s side need much more than that in their next game against Costa Rica, and also a favour off Spain against Japan, but they should feel considerable relief here. They have survived. They have persevered. It is remarkable to think that these sides went into this World Cup as equals, and that this game ended level. Spain were so much the better side, as evidenced by their positions in the group. But Luis Enrique’s team also have flaws, as evidenced by the way they gave this win up.
Flick and Niclas Fullkrug do deserve credit there. They didn’t exactly display Spain’s class but they did show considerable resilience. It can’t be discounted how badly they needed this, even if Costa Rica’s win over Japan took some of the edge off the game, and they still need to drastically improve.
Germany cling on to World Cup hopes and expose Spain’s flaws with battling draw
Spain 1-1 Germany: The substitute Niclas Fullkrug rescued a point after Alvaro Morata also made an impact from the bench in a heavyweight Group E clash
World Cup 2022: Japan vs Spain
Japan 0-1 Costa Rica - match report
By Mark Critchley at the Al-Rayyan Stadium
Japan arrived in Qatar hoping to atone for their most infamous of visits to this country, when a stoppage-time equaliser in a 2-2 draw with Iraq on neutral ground during the qualifiers for the 1994 World Cup denied them their first-ever place at a finals. There have been seven consecutive qualifications since – a remarkable rise to becoming an established footballing nation – but if they leave without reaching the knockout stages of this tournament, they will be left to lament this defeat as their new ‘Tragedy of Doha’.
After their exceptional win in the first round of group games, not to mention Costa Rica’s 7-0 defeat, this was a chance for Japan to all but secure a place in the last-16 and pile pressure on Germany before their meeting with Spain later this evening. Instead, Keysher Fuller’s 81st-minute winner has turned Group E on its head and produced a plausible scenario where all four sides go into the final round level on points.
Hajime Moriyasu may try to look on the bright side and philosophise that three points after two games is par for the course. But in the cold reality of a World Cup, while witnessing Moriyasu and his players bow apologetically to their supporters at the Ahmad Bin Ali Stadium, the only conclusion to be drawn from a scrappy contest with a sensational finish is that his side have wasted the golden opportunity that beating Germany presented.
Costa Rica, meanwhile, are still just about alive thanks to Fuller. The right-back’s looped, slightly mishit shot only just made it through goalkeeper Shuichi Gonda’s outstretched palm. The chance had only come his way because Yeltsin Tejeda capitalised on a mistake by Hidemasa Morita. It was an ugly goal to win an uglier game but just about what Luis Fernando Suarez’s side deserved for a disciplined gameplan.
Costa Rica earn redemption as Japan pluck another tragedy from jaws of triumph
Japan 0-1 Costa Rica: Los Ticos bounced back after a 7-0 thrashing at the hands of Spain in their Qatar World Cup opener
World Cup 2022: Japan vs Spain
Spain boss Luis Enrique remembers late daughter on ‘special day’ at World Cup
Spain coach Luis Enrique said it was a “special day” after his team’s 1-1 draw with Germany at the World Cup on Sunday.
But it had nothing to do with football.
Luis Enrique said Sunday would have been the 13th birthday of his daughter, Xana Martínez, who died three years ago of a rare form of bone cancer.
“It was a special day for me and my family,” Luis Enrique said. “Obviously we don’t have our daughter with us physically anymore, but she is still present every day. We remember her a lot, we laugh and think about how she would act in each situation that we experience.”
He had earlier posted a video on Instagram in which he said that “not only we play against Germany today, but Xanita would have turned 13.” He wished her “a good day” wherever she was right now.
“This is how life works,” he said after the match. “It’s not only about beautiful things and finding happiness, it’s about knowing how to manage these moments.”
Luis Enrique remembers late daughter on ‘special day’ at World Cup
Sunday would have been the 13th birthday of his daughter, Xana Martínez, who died three years ago of a rare form of bone cancer
World Cup 2022: Japan vs Spain - TEAM NEWS
Japan: Shuichi Gonda, Shogo Taniguchi, Ko Itakura, Yuto Nagatomo, Takefusa Kubo, Hidemasa Morita, Junya Ito, Daichi Kamada, Ao Tanaka, Maya Yoshida, Daizen Maeda
Spain: Unai Simon, Cesar Azpilicueta, Pau Torres, Sergio Busquets, Alvaro Morata, Gavi, Nico Williams, Alejandro Balde, Rodri, Dani Olmo, Pedri
World Cup 2022: Japan vs Spain
Spain are looking to clinch top spot in Group E at the 2022 World Cup with a win against Japan this evening.
Luis Enrique’s Furia Roja were hit back by Germany last time out, but are still in control and poised to finish first if they can beat Japan, who were stunned by Costa Rica and must win here to stand a chance of making the last 16.
The 2010 champions need a point to guarantee their qualification for the knockout-phase, while half-an-eye will be on the other match in Group E between Costa Rica and Germany.
“There was a strange feeling in the changing room because we had the opportunity to beat Germany and we let it slip through our hands and that was a shame - but we have to think that we are at the top of the so-called Group of Death and we have to stay positive,” Spain boss Luis Enrique said ahead of the match.
Kick-off is at 7pm - team news coming right up!
Canada 1-2 Morocco - MATCH REPORT
By Peter Hall in Doha
Morocco were made to work hard for it by a spirited Canada, but two first-half goals were enough to ensure they qualify for the World Cup last 16 for only the second time in history following a 2-1 victory.
On a high from their heroic victory over Belgium in their last match, one of the most famous wins in African sporting history, Morocco are the second team from the continent to reach the knockout stages after Senegal booked a date with England, and incredibly progress as group winners.
Belgium’s miserable month ended in further catastrophe as their failure to beat Croatia means one of the pre-tournament favourites bows out, and Morocco become the first African team to reach the World Cup knockouts as group winners since Nigeria in 1998. But they were made to work mightily hard for their success by a Canada side who finish pointless, despite their best efforts.
After a raucous rendition of the Moroccan national anthem in the Al Thumama Stadium that could not have failed to have roused the Arab nation from any lingering lethargy, Canada were immediately put on the back foot.
What the Canadians needed to do if they were going to have any chance of their first ever World Cup match was just to steady the ship, not let in any early goals, avoiding making mistakes where possible.
Morocco deny spirited Canada to create World Cup history after topping Group F
Canada 1-2 Morocco: For the first time since 1986, the Atlas Lions are into the knockout stages of the World Cup
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