Germany crashed out of the World Cup at the group stage for the second successive tournament despite a second-half fightback to beat Costa Rica.
The news and features of the World Cup in 2022.
Germany took a first-half lead and seemed to be cruising until Costa Rica scored twice in the second period. Japan's victory against Spain meant that Germany were out of the game.
Player ratings, best and worst performers, highlights and notable moments, post match quotes, and key statistics are included in the jump.
Four years after the same result at Russia, Germany was knocked out of the World Cup in the group stage.
After losing to Japan in their first game of the tournament, Flick's team needed to beat Costa Rica in order to make it to the next round. Germany were powerless to save themselves against Los Ticos due to the fact that Japan produced their second major upset of the year.
The early exit is likely to lead to a major change in German football, with the coach's position under threat. It's possible that long-serving players such as Thomas Muller, Mario Gotze, Antonio Rudiger, and Ilkay Gundogan will end up being the last ones to play for their country. The need to build around young talents such as Havertz and Musiala is obvious as Germany prepares to host Euro 2024.
The end of an era in German football will be signaled by the World Cup. The new generation can't be sure if they can follow in their footsteps.
The United States, Mexico and Canada will host the World Cup in six years' time, but can North and Central America really compete with them?
With home advantage, the joint hosts will all expect to progress to the knockout stages in a 48-team competition, and Costa Rica's performance in the group stage shows that the region has the depth to be confident of a successful showing. By beating Japan and then giving Germany a scare at Al Bayt Stadium, Los Ticos gave hope to the second tier of countries hoping to qualify for the World Cup.
Costa Rica is one of the oldest teams in the world, with an average age of 27.2 years, and will need to refresh their squad with old stagers such as Keylor Navas and Celso Borges likely to be out of the picture. Panama and Jamaica finished fifth and sixth, respectively, in qualification for the World Cup, and the Ticos are expected to qualify ahead of them.
Haiti and Cuba will be looking to get into the finals for the first time since 1974 and 1978, respectively. Although only the US have made it through to the round of 16 this time, the teams from North and Central America have shown enough to suggest they will compete in the next four years.
Neuer has played in most of the World Cup. His 19th appearance for Germany took him clear of Brazil's Claudio Taffarel and West Germany's Sepp Maier, but he won't want to relive it.
At 36, this will almost certainly be his last World Cup, but it was not the way he would have liked to end his career.
Neuer had a poor game and his mistakes led to both Costa Rica goals. Yeltsin Tejeda scored Costa Rica's first goal after Neuer fumbled a Kendall Waston goal kick and failed to deal with the cross that led to the other goal.
Neuer was arguably the best goalkeeper in the world for three or four years, but injuries and age have caught up with him. He played a part in Germany's second consecutive World Cup win.
Keylor Navas had 8; Keysher Fuller had 7; Oscar Duarte had 6; Kendal Waston had 7.
Youstin Salas, Jewison Bennette and Ronald Matarrita were on the subs.
Leon Goretzka had 5, Ilkay Gundogan had 5, and Thomas Muller had 5.
Kai Havertz and Mario Gotze were on the subs.
The best is Jamal Musiala. Without Musiala, the rest of the World Cup will be poorer. There is hope for the future of Die Nationalmannschaft.
The worst is Antonio Rudiger, Germany. There was a close run between the Real Madrid defenders and Neuer. Neuer made a good save and Rudiger made bad decisions.
Fans of Germany won't want to see a lot of this. Is it in? You make the decision. I'm sorry, freunde.
If this ball is ruled out Germany would be moving on to the Round of 16 😱 pic.twitter.com/PcceKn0AIW
— ESPN FC (@ESPNFC) December 1, 2022
It was a pleasure if this was my last game. I did it with love.
We didn't have a clear result in the first half. We tried many times, but failed to take them. It would have been different if we had taken our chances.
Germany had never been eliminated in the group stage. It is the first time that they have failed to reach the knockout rounds in back-to-back tournaments.
| GP | W | D | L | GD | PTS | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 - Japan | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | +1 | 6 |
| 2 - Spain | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | +6 | 4 |
| 3 - Germany | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | +1 | 4 |
| 4 - Costa Rica | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | -8 | 3 |
| Top two countries qualify for round of 16 |
Germany and Brazil are tied for most goals in World Cup history.
At the World Cup, Germany had the highest expected goals at 10 and the highest expected goal differential at plus- 6.4.
The World Cup is over in Costa Rica, but they'll be playing in the Nations League in March.
Germany is out of the World Cup for the second year in a row. The Nationalmannschaft have no upcoming games.
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