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FIFA World Cup 2022: Japan shockingly defeat Spain 2-1

On Thursday, Japan defeated favourite Spain 2-1 in the FIFA World Cup. In doing so, the Japanese not only qualified for the last 16, but also won their group, setting up a meeting with Croatia in the following round. Germany was eliminated on goal difference after beating Costa Rica 4-2 in their game, as Spain slid to second place in the group. Japan has had one of the oddest runs in this tournament, overcoming European heavyweights Germany and Spain while succumbing to the weak Costa Rica.

Japan rallied from a goal behind in the second half to defeat Spain 2-1 on Thursday and advance to the World Cup knockout stages as group champions. Spain dominated the first half at the Khalifa International Stadium, and Alvaro Morata headed in his third goal of the tournament to put Spain ahead.

But everything changed after halftime when replacement Ritsu Doan levelled with a shot from the outside of the box and Ao Tanaka completed the comeback following a Kaoru Mitoma cut-back that looked to have gone out of play but was judged in.

At that moment, a Costa Rica victory over Germany in the group’s second game would have eliminated Spain from the competition. Despite failing to equalise against Japan, Spain advanced thanks to Germany’s victory.

On Tuesday, Spain will face Morocco in the round of 16, while Japan will meet 2018 finalists Croatia on Monday.

“It’s going to be a high-pressure game for our players,” Japan coach Hajime Moriyasu said before the game. “But we must believe in ourselves. The players must believe in themselves and they must believe in their teammates in order to fight against our opponent. Hopefully they will be able to do their best and the result will come,” he added.

“Hopefully we will get to face Brazil, because that would mean that we finished in first place in our group,” Spain coach Luis Enrique said to reporters before the match. “To win a World Cup you need to beat every team, so we are not going to try to avoid anyone,” he concluded.

Spainish midfielder Koke Resurrección stated: “We are not thinking about our opponents in the knockout rounds. We need to beat Japan first and then we’ll see which team we’ll have to play against. If it’s Brazil in the quarterfinals, so be it, and we’ll try to prepare for it as best as possible.”

  • Japan Team XI: Shuichi Gonda, Shogo Taniguchi, Ko Itakura, Yuto Nagatomo (Kaoru Mitoma, 46′), Takefusa Kubo (Ritsu Doan, 46′), Hidemasa Morita, Junya Ito, Daichi Kamada (Takehiro Tomiyasu, 69′), Ao Tanaka (Wataru Endo, 87′), Maya Yoshida, Daizen Maeda (Takuma Asano, 62′).
  • Spain Team XI: Unai Simon, Cesar Azpilicueta (Dani Carvajal, 46′), Pau Torres, Sergio Busquets, Alvaro Morata (Marco Asensio, 57′), Gavi (Ansu Fati, 68′), Nico Williams (Ferran Torres, 57′), Alejandro Balde (Jordi Alba, 68′), Rodri, Dani Olmo, Pedri.
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