2022 FIFA World Cup Group E
Group E of the 2022 FIFA World Cup took place from 23 November to 1 December 2022.[1] The group consisted of Spain, Costa Rica, Germany, and Japan. The top two teams, Japan and Spain advanced to the round of 16.[2] Japan became the first Asian team to win a World Cup group since themselves in Group H and South Korea in Group D, both in 2002, a tournament both countries co-hosted and the first country to defeat 2 former World Cup teams which became a big upset. Germany was eliminated from the group stage for the second consecutive tournament after going out as defending champions in 2018. They became the second reigning world champions to be eliminated in the group stage of the two subsequent tournaments, following the 2006 winners Italy.
Teams
| Draw position | Team | Pot | Confederation | Method of qualification |
Date of qualification |
Finals appearance |
Last appearance |
Previous best performance |
FIFA Rankings[3] | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| March 2022[nb 1] | October 2022 | |||||||||
| E1 |  Spain | 1 | UEFA | UEFA Group B winners | 14 November 2021 | 16th | 2018 | Winners (2010) | 7 | 7 |
| E2 |  Costa Rica | 4[nb 2] | CONCACAF | CONCACAF v OFC play-off winners | 14 June 2022 | 6th | 2018 | Quarter-finals (2014) | 31[nb 2] | 31 |
| E3 |  Germany | 2 | UEFA | UEFA Group J winners | 11 October 2021 | 20th[nb 3] | 2018 | Winners (1954, 1974, 1990, 2014) | 12 | 11 |
| E4 |  Japan | 3 | AFC | AFC Third Round Group B runners-up | 24 March 2022 | 7th | 2018 | Round of 16 (2002, 2010, 2018) | 23 | 24 |
Notes
- The rankings of March 2022 were used for seeding for the final draw.
- As the identity of the CONCACAF v OFC play-off winners was not known at the time of the final draw, positions in the FIFA Rankings were not taken into account, and the placeholder in the draw was automatically seeded into pot 4.[4]
- Germany competed between 1951 and 1990 as West Germany.
Standings
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Japan |
3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 3 | +1 | 6 | Advanced to knockout stage |
| 2 | Spain |
3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 9 | 3 | +6 | 4 | |
| 3 | Germany |
3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 6 | 5 | +1 | 4 | |
| 4 | Costa Rica |
3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 11 | −8 | 3 |
In the round of 16:
Matches
All times listed are local, AST (UTC+3).[1]
Germany vs Japan
The two teams had faced each other twice, most recently in 2006 friendly, which finished in a 2–2 draw. In the 33rd minute, Germany was awarded a penalty when the Japanese goalkeeper fouled David Raum. İlkay Gündoğan scored the penalty with a shot down the middle of the net with the goalkeeper diving to the right.[5] In the 75th minute, it was 1–1 when Ritsu Dōan scored, finishing a rebound to the net after Manuel Neuer had saved a low shot from the left. Japan went in front eight minutes later when Takuma Asano received the ball down the right wing before running into the penalty area and shooting high to the net from the right of the six-yard box.[6] The result was the second consecutive time that Germany lost its opening World Cup match after losing 1–0 to Mexico in 2018.[7]
          Germany
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     Japan
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Man of the Match:
Assistant referees:
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Spain vs Costa Rica
The Spaniards had met the Costa Ricans three times, all of them being friendly matches, with the most recent on Spanish soil: 5–0 in 2017.[9]
Costa Rica tied their worst defeat ever, alongside another 7–0 defeat by Mexico in 1975. This was Spain's biggest win at the World Cup, surpassing the 6–1 win against Bulgaria in 1998.
| Spain | 7–0 | Costa Rica |
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| Report |
     Spain
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    Costa Rica
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Man of the Match:
Assistant referees:
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Japan vs Costa Rica
Japan had met Costa Rica in four friendlies, winning three and drawing one,[11] with their most recent match being a 3–0 victory for the Japanese at Panasonic Stadium Suita on 11 September 2018.[12] Japan dominated the game but Costa Rica went in front with nine minutes left.[13] Keysher Fuller scored with a shot from the right which was deflected and misjudged by Japan goalkeeper Shūichi Gonda, it was the only goal in the game.[14][15]
| Japan | 0–1 | Costa Rica |
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Japan
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   Costa Rica
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Man of the Match:
Assistant referees:
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Spain vs Germany
The teams had met four times in the World Cup, in Germany's 2–1 group stage victory in 1966, 2–1 second group stage victory in 1982, a 1–1 group stage draw in 1994, and Spain's 1–0 semi-final win in 2010. Dani Olmo shot a shot in the first half that Manuel Neuer turned onto the bar. In the 62nd minute substitute Álvaro Morata put Spain into the lead when he flicked Jordi Alba's cross from the left into the net at the near post.[17] With seven minutes to go, another substitute Niclas Füllkrug equalized for Germany when he lashed the ball with his right foot high past Spanish goalkeeper Unai Simón from the right. Leroy Sane almost won it for Germany in the added time but the ball was eventually cleared from danger.[18]
Spain
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 Germany
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Man of the Match:
Assistant referees:
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Japan vs Spain
The two teams previously faced each other once in 2001, a friendly game in which Spain won 1–0.
In this match, Japan midfielder Ao Tanaka scored a controversial second goal after the ball appeared to go out of play. VAR took several minutes to confirm that a sliver of the ball stayed in the field, making it a valid goal.[20][21][22] The decision proved critical in Japan's surprise topping of Group E and eliminating Germany from the tournament, with Die Mannschaft finishing third despite securing a two-goal victory over Costa Rica in the group's other game.[23][24] With this win, Japan managed to reach the knockout stage in two consecutive World Cups for the first time ever in their history.
Japan
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Spain
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Man of the Match:
Assistant referees:
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Costa Rica vs Germany
The Germans had played only one previous match against Costa Rica, which served as the opening game for the 2006 FIFA World Cup they hosted. Germany beat the Ticos 4–2.[26]
Germany won by the same scoreline, although they were still edged out by Spain due to a far worse goal differential (+1 to +6), with Germany being eliminated from the group stage for the second consecutive tournament after 2018. The same result as Italy did in 2014[27]
| Costa Rica | 2–4 | Germany |
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| Report |
Costa Rica
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Germany
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Man of the Match:
Assistant referees:
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Discipline
Fair play points would have been used as tiebreakers if the overall and head-to-head records of teams were tied. These were calculated based on yellow and red cards received in all group matches as follows:[2]
- first yellow card: −1 point;
- indirect red card (second yellow card): −3 points;
- direct red card: −4 points;
- yellow card and direct red card: −5 points;
Only one of the above deductions was applied to a player in a single match.
| Team | Match 1 | Match 2 | Match 3 | Points | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Spain |
1 | −1 | |||||||||||
| Germany |
3 | −3 | |||||||||||
| Costa Rica |
2 | 3 | 1 | −6 | |||||||||
| Japan |
3 | 3 | −6 | ||||||||||
References
- "FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 – Match Schedule" (PDF). FIFA.com. Fédération Internationale de Football Association. 11 August 2022. Retrieved 11 August 2022.
- "Regulations – FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022" (PDF). FIFA.com. Fédération Internationale de Football Association. 15 December 2021. Retrieved 30 March 2022.
- "Men's Ranking". FIFA. Retrieved 21 November 2022.
- "Procedures for the Final Draw for the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 released". FIFA. 22 March 2022. Retrieved 22 March 2022.
- "Germany 1 Japan 2". BBC Sport. 23 November 2022. Retrieved 1 December 2022.
- "Japan come from behind in stunning win against Germany". The 42. 23 November 2022. Retrieved 1 December 2022.
- "Germany 1 Japan 2:As it happened". Guardian. 23 November 2022. Retrieved 1 December 2022.
- "Germany stunned by Japanese comeback". FIFA. 23 November 2022. Retrieved 23 November 2022.
- Muñoz, Felip (1 April 2022). "Rival de España: Nueva Zelanda o Costa Rica, dos selecciones asequibles". Mundo Deportivo (in Spanish). Retrieved 1 April 2022.
- "Seven-up Spain trounce Ticos". FIFA. 23 November 2022. Retrieved 23 November 2022.
- "Japan national football team: record v Costa Rica". 11v11.com. Retrieved 1 April 2022.
- "Japón golea 3-0 a Costa Rica en amistoso". Reuters (in Spanish). 11 September 2018. Retrieved 1 April 2022.
- "Japan 0 Costa Rica 1". BBC Sport. 27 November 2022. Retrieved 1 December 2022.
- "World Cup 2022 - Japan 0-1 Costa Rica: Keysher Fuller scores late winner for Los Ticos to blow Group E wide open". Sky Sports. 27 November 2022. Retrieved 1 December 2022.
- "Japan 0 Costa Rica 1:Live". BBC Sport. 27 November 2022. Retrieved 1 December 2022.
- "Costa Rica bounce back by beating Japan". FIFA. 27 November 2022. Retrieved 27 November 2022.
- "Spain 1 Germany 1". BBC Sport. 27 November 2022. Retrieved 1 December 2022.
- "Spain 1 Germany 1:As it happened". Guardian. 27 November 2022. Retrieved 1 December 2022.
- "Substitute Fullkrug strikes for vital Germany point". FIFA. 27 November 2022. Retrieved 27 November 2022.
- "Fans are desperately trying to work out if the ball went out for Japan's shock goal vs Spain". GiveMeSport. 1 December 2022.
- "Explained: Why Japan's second goal against Spain was controversially allowed by VAR despite ball appearing to be out of play | Goal.com". www.goal.com.
- Dean, Sam; Ducker, James; Zeqiri, Daniel (1 December 2022). "Japan vs Spain result: VAR gives Japan victory and puts Germany out of World Cup". The Telegraph – via www.telegraph.co.uk.
- "World Cup shock as Germany dumped out after Japan stun Spain in dramatic finale".
- "World Cup 2022: Did it cross the line? Germany out as Japan and Spain progress". BBC Sport. 1 December 2022. Retrieved 2 December 2022.
- "Japan repeat Germany heroics to stun Spain". FIFA. 1 December 2022. Retrieved 1 December 2022.
- "Germany 4-2 Costa Rica". BBC Sport. British Broadcasting Corporation. 9 June 2006. Retrieved 1 April 2022.
- "World Cup 2022: 'Germany exit as a fallen giant of world football'". BBC Sport. 1 December 2022. Retrieved 2 December 2022.
- "Germany crash out despite Costa Rica victory". FIFA. 1 December 2022. Retrieved 1 December 2022.
