Al Khor, Qatar — Germany World Cup exit in the group stage of the second tournament in a row, despite coming back in the second half to lose Costa Rica 4-2 at the Al Bait Stadium on Thursday.
– World Cup 2022: News and Features , Schedule , squads
In a remarkable game, Germany took the lead in the first half and held Hansi Flick’s side to two goals from Costa Rica early in the second period. though the substitute Kai Havertz (2 more Niklas Fulkrug scored a goal to win 4-2 Japan2-1 win against spain This meant that the Germans were out.
jump to: player ratings , Best/Worst Performers , Highlights and Notable Moments , postmatch quotes , key figures , upcoming fixtures
Swift response
1. Germany win but another humiliating group stage exit
Germany suffered a second World Cup humiliation in a row as they were knocked out in the group stage in Qatar four years after a similar result in Russia 2018.
After losing 2-1 to Japan in their opening game at the tournament the previous week, Flick’s team needed to beat Costa Rica and hope Spain would beat Japan in order to progress. Japan pulled off their second major upset at Qatar 2022 to beat Luis Enrique’s team, however, which meant Germany was powerless to defend itself los ticos,
The early exit is likely to mark a major change in German football, with Flick’s position as coach now vulnerable. long serving players like Thomas Muller, manuel neuer, Antonio Rudiger, Mario Gotze And ilke gundogan May even come to the end of the row on the international stage. With Germany hosting Euro 2024 less than 18 months from now, there is a need to renew the squad and build on young talents like Havertz. Jamal Musiala Now it is clear.
This World Cup will mark the end of an era in German football, with the heroes of Brazil 2014 stepping on. Whether the new generation can emulate him or not will be a matter to be seen.
2. Costa Rica promoted to CONCACAF before 2026
Six CONCACAF teams will play in the 2026 World Cup, with three places already assigned. United States of america, Mexico And Canada As co-hosts, but with Costa Rica exiting the group stage from Qatar 2022 and joining Mexico and Canada, can North and Central America really be competitive in four years’ time?
With home advantage, the United hosts will all hope to progress to the knockout stages in the 48-team competition, and Costa Rica’s performance in Qatar after a 7-0 win at the hands of Spain shows there is depth in the CONCACAF field for 2026. Confident of a successful performance in By defeating Japan and then leading 2–1 before losing 4–2 to Germany and inflicting an almighty scare at Al Bayt Stadium, Los Ticos gave the second tier of CONCACAF nations hope of qualifying for the World Cup. Cup 2026.
As one of the oldest squads in Qatar, with an average age of 27.2 years, Costa Rica will need to refresh their squad with older staggers such as Keller Navas (35) and celso borges (34) Likely to be out of the picture when the next World Cup comes around. But the Ticos have been regular World Cup participants, reaching the quarter-finals in 2014, and they will hope to qualify before such a choice. panama And JamaicaWho finished fifth and sixth respectively in the qualification this time.
el salvador And honduras With both, would fancy your chances of qualifying haiti (1974) and cuba (1938) also out to end a long absence from the finals. Although only the US have reached the round of 16 this time, the CONCACAF teams have shown enough to suggest that they will compete in four years.
3. Neuer makes history on a night to forget
Neuer is now a standout in his own right as the most goalscorer at the World Cup. His 19th appearance for Germany put him clear of Brazil’s Claudio Tafarel and West Germany’s Sepp Maier, but it was a night the 2014 World Cup winners won’t soon want to miss.
At 36, this would almost certainly be his last World Cup, but it was not like he wanted to bow out that way.
In addition to the obvious humiliation of being eliminated in the group stage for the second consecutive World Cup, Neuer had a poor game, in which his mistakes led to both of Costa Rica’s goals. great savings from kisher fuller In the first half, Neuer Kendall Waston header to give yeltsin tejeda Tap-in for the Costa Rica opener before failing to tackle the cross Juan Pablo Vargas Scored the second goal of Los Ticos.
At his peak, Neuer was arguably the best goalkeeper in the world for a period of three or four years, but injuries and age have caught up with him. Bayern Munich number 1. He is no longer the presence he once was and played his part in Germany’s second consecutive World Cup.
player ratings
Costa Rica: Keylor Navas 8; Keisher Fuller 7, Oscar Duarte 6, Kendall Waston 7, Juan Pablo Vargas 7, Brian Oviedo 6; brandon aguilera 6, Celso Borges 6, Yeltsin Tejeda 8, Joel Campbell 6; johan venegas 7
sub: Justin Salas 7, juson bennett 6, Ronald Matarita 6, Anthony Contreras 6, Ron Wilson 6
Germany: Manuel Neur 5; Joshua Kimmich 5, Niklas Sule 5, Antonio Rudiger 5, David Raum 6; Leon Goretzka 5, Ilkay Gundogan 5; Serge Gnabry 6, Jamal Musiala 8, leroy sane 5; Thomas Muller 5
sub: Lucas Klostermann 5, Kai Havertz 7, Mario Gotze 6, Nicklas Fulkrug 6, matthias ginter 6
best and worst performers
Best: Jamal Musiala, Germany. The rest of the 2022 World Cup would be poorer without the brilliance of Musiala, who gave his all for Germany and hit the post twice. A real talent and hope for the future die nationalmannschaft,
Bad: Antonio Rüdiger, Germany. a close run thing between real madrid The defender and Neuer, but Rudiger was poor all night. Neuer made at least one good save, but Rüdiger made poor decisions from start to finish.
Highlights and Notable Moments
It’s not something Germany fans would like to see too much of. was it inside? You decide. Pardon me, Friends,
If this ball is out, Germany will advance to the round of 16 😱 pic.twitter.com/PcceKn0AIW
— ESPN FC (@ESPNFC) December 1, 2022
After the match: What the players and managers said
Mueller: “If this was my last game, it would have been a great pleasure. I did it out of love.”
Shock: “I think in the first half, we were not able to produce a clear result. We had a lot of chances and attempts, but we failed to take them. You have to take your chances and score goals, if we had them. It would have been a different story.”
Key Stats (Provided by ESPN Stats & Info)
Russia 2018 was the first time Germany were knocked out in the group stage. Thus, Qatar 2022 marks the first time that they have failed to reach the knockout rounds in consecutive tournaments.
With 232 goals, Germany is now tied with Brazil for the most goals in World Cup history.
– Germany had the highest expected goals scored (xG) of any team at the World Cup at 10.0 and the highest expected goal difference (xGD) at plus-6.4.
next
Costa Rica: Los Ticos’ World Cup is over, but they will be back in CONCACAF Nations League action once the winter months are over, to travel Martinique On 25 March.
Germany: Germany has been eliminated from the World Cup in the group stage for the second time in a row. Die Nationalmannschaft does not have any upcoming events scheduled.
