Dramatic D-day: Japan beat Spain to knock Germany out of the World Cup
Japan made the knockouts for the second consecutive time for the first time in their history. On the contrary, Germany got knocked out for the second time in a row, making it yet another disastrous campaign.
It's been a rollercoaster of a tournament for Asian powerhouse Japan as they bounced back from an unlikely loss to Costa Rica to upstage Spain 2-1 and make the last-16. With the win, Hajime Moriyasu's men topped the group with Spain qualifying as the group runner-up.
Germany won against Costa Rica in a thrilling encounter at the same time but were knocked out of the tournament on goal difference. Had Spain found the equaliser against Japan, Germany would have made the knockout stages along with Spain.
It was Spain who opened the goal tap as Alvaro Morata scored his third goal in the ongoing tournament.
The first half was dominated by Spain but Japan surely gave them some nervous moments. But the Asian giants were a different side altogether in the second half as Ao Tanaka and Ritsu Doan found the back of the net to give them a lead of 2-1. Doan was one of the goalscorers for Japan in the Germany match as well.
Japan made the knockouts for the second consecutive time for the first time in their history. On the contrary, Germany got knocked out for the second time in a row, making it yet another disastrous campaign.
