Japan booked their place in the round of 16 at the World Cup after coming back from a goal down to beat Spain.
Spain led through Alvaro Morata's early goal, but Japan came back with two goals in three minutes to take the lead at halftime.
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The goal was initially ruled out after the ball was thought to have run out of play before Kaoru's cut-back, but the VAR overturned the decision and gave Japan three points they needed to be sure of a place in the knockout rounds.
Player ratings, best and worst performers, highlights and notable moments, post match quotes, and key statistics are included in the jump.
Four years ago, when Japan almost knocked out Belgium in the round of 16 at the World Cup, they gave notice that they weren't going to be phased by facing big teams.
Even though Hajime Moriyasu's team was drawn in a tough group, there was a lot of faith in their ability to achieve. Few would have thought that Germany and Spain would beat each other. Japan battled back from a goal down in both games to send a message to any team they face in the knockout rounds that they are never out of a game.
Japan have never made the World Cup quarterfinals, but they have already shown that they can do it, starting with a match against Croatia on Monday.
After Japan conceded a last minute goal to lose to Iraq in a World Cup qualification match in 1993, it became known as the "tragedy of Doha".
This result will make up for a painful memory for Moriyasu as his team continues to play well.
It's almost unbelievable that for a period in the second half here Spain were going out after taking an early lead against Japan.
Spain dropped down to third in Group E because of Japan's two goals in three minutes early in the second half, as well as Costa Rica's lead against Germany.
Spain manager Luis Enrique has Kai Havertz to thank for turning the game against Costa Rica in Spain's favor, but it will be a worry that when they were desperate for a goal, they looked toothless.
If Spain finishes second in their group, they will avoid the toughest side of the draw, which includes Argentina and Brazil. If Spain had won the group, it would have meant a game with Brazil in the quarterfinals.
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If Spain keeps playing like they did in the second half, they will not get very far.
Spain will face Morocco in the round of 16 after they finished second in their group and lost to Algeria.
What followed was a lot of possession and not much else for the first time in the World Cup.
In the first half, Spain had two players complete more passes than Japan, but it didn't really mean anything, and for the majority of the game it looked like they wanted to finish second.
Morata is tied with Kylian Mbappe, Marcus Rashford and Enner Valencia in the Golden Boot race and has a good chance to start against Morocco. Luis Enrique wouldn't have a bench option if things start to go wrong if he picked him from the beginning. Marco Asensio and Ansu Fati came on as Spain was trying to get a goal against Japan.
Spain was fortunate that Costa Rica couldn't hold on against Germany, but they didn't bother Japan's goalkeeper.
Spain has Unai Simon, Cesar Azpilicueta, Alejandro Balde, Pau Torres, Rodri,Sergio Busquets, Gavi, and Dani Olmo.
Marco Asensio, Ansu Fati, and Jordi Alba are on the subs.
Shogo Taniguchi, Maya Yoshida, Yuto Nagatomo, Hidemasa Morita, Junya Ito, and Daichi Kamada are all from Japan.
Takuma Asano and Wataru Endo were on the subs.
The best place to live is Japan.
He changed the game when he came on in the second half, first with a goal and then with a cross that led to Japan's game-winner.
Unai Simon is the worst.
The ball was taken away by Japan for their first goal.
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
The VAR awarded Japan the decisive goal after the ball appeared to hit the floor.
"We played against Spain, one of the best teams in the world and we knew before the game that this was going to be very tough and difficult, and indeed it was," said Hajime Moriyasu, the Japan manager.
The players did well despite the fact that they conceded a goal.
"This is football, I have a lot of experience in football, I've seen everything, all the good and all the bad." It's hard to find spaces against Japan, we put on more attackers, but it's not easy.
Tonight we'll grieve. We go through in second place, but this must be a warning to know that this will happen. This will happen again if we go ahead with the game. When we are under pressure, we need to be more convincing.
Japan's possession against Spain was the lowest since 1966.
Austria's 1978 squad became the second team to defeat both Spain and Germany at the same World Cup.
The round of 16 will be played on Monday. The Atlas Lions and La Roja played to a 2-2 draw in the group stage of the World Cup last year.
The Samurai Blue will play Croatia on Monday.
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