Ritsu Doan and Ao Tanaka inspired Japan to a shock 2-1 win over Spain to top Group E, as both teams qualified for Round of 16.
Alvaro Morata’s 10th minute header looked to had put Spain on course to top the group as they dominated the first half.
Quick-fire goals from Doan and Tanaka early in the second-half though saw Japan snatch a shock victory to top Group E, which set up a Round of 16 tie against Croatia at Al Janoub Stadium on Monday 5 December at 6pm AST local time.
Spain meanwhile qualified second by virtue of their superior goal difference after Germany defeated Costa Rica 4-2 in the other Group E game, yet Hansi Flick’s Germany have now exited the World Cup for the second consecutive tournament at the Group Stage.
Luis Enrique’s La Roja will now face Group F winners, Morocco on Tuesday 6 December at Education City Stadium, at 6pm AST local time.
With victory guaranteeing a knockout spot for either Japan or Spain, it was the Asian-based team who enjoyed the better start as Ao Tanaka and Junya Ito both wasted early chances.
Those mistakes soon began to look costly as news came through that Serge Gnabry had scored a 10th minute header against Costa Rica to lift Germany into second in Group E.
Spain reacted fastest to that news as Azpilicueta found Morata to nod in from close-range a minute later, which put Luis Enrique’s La Roja top of the group and left Japan facing an early exit at this tournament.
Morata then missed a chance to snatch a second goal in the 23rd minute as he fired his shot straight into Suichi Gonda’s arms, before he then turned provider with a lobbed pass sideways for Dani Olmo who initialy miscontrolled the ball as he then fired into Gonda’s arms.
Despite those two wasted chances to comfortably secure their passage to the Round of 16, Spain nevertheless dominated the first half comfortably as Japan pressed hard yet couldn’t find a breakthrougl equaliser.
Spain and Germany therefore found themselves first and second in Group E at half-time, with their fate in their own hands entering the second-half as they held narrow 1-0 leads over Japan and Costa Rica respectively.
Japan manager, Hajime Moriyasu however decided to ring the changes as he substituted Yuto Nagatomo and Takefusa Kubo for Kaoru Mitoma and Ritsu Doan respectively on the restart.
Those changes quickly looked inspiring as Doan intercepted Alejandro Balde’s loose touch and calmly cut in from the right, from which he curled in a powerful equalising strike which goalkeeper, Unai Simon was only able to deflect into his own net.
That goal therefore meant that Spain and Japan were set to go through but Doan had other ideas three minutes later, as he rolled a low cross from the right across goal which fellow substitute – Mitoma pulled back for Tanaka to lash in from close-range.
Referee, Victor Gomes initially ruled Tanaka’s goal offside due to Doan’s cross going out of play in the buildup, only for VAR to overturn his decision which reignited celebrations amongst Japanese players.
Tanaka’s goal left Japan sat top with just under 40 minutes left to play as they quickly decided to sit deep and defend their lead, as Spain huffed and puffed against a stubbornly disciplined defence despite making four changes to no avail.
Costa Rica meanwhile found a 58th minute equaliser against Germany through Yeltsin Tejeda to put themselves level with second-placed Spain, which soon became second place in the 70th minute with Juan Pablo Vargas’ goal to take the lead.
Spain and Germany consequently looked destined for shock exits but Kai Havertz’s double and Niclas Fullkrüg’s late goal saw Germany come from behind to beat Costa Rica, which left them on four points apiece with Spain but eliminated on goal difference.
Japan will now meet 2018 runners-up, Croatia in the Round of 16, whilst Spain face a difficult meeting against Morocco for a place in the Quarter-Finals.
Teams
Japan: Suichi Gonda, Ko Itakura, Maya Yoshida, Shogo Taniguchi, Junya Ito, Hidemasa Morita, Ao Tanaka (Endo 87′), Yuto Nagatomo (Mitoma 45′), Takefusa Kubo (Doan 45′), Daichi Kamada (Tomiyasu 69′), Daizen Maeda (Asano 62′)
Substitutes: Eiji Kawashima, Miki Yamane, Wataru Endo, Gaku Shibasaki, Ritsu Doan, Kaoru Mitoma, Takumi Minamino, Takehiro Tomiyasu, Takuma Asano, Hiroki Sakai, Shuto Machino, Ayase Ueda, Dnaiel Schmidt, Yuki Soma, Hiroki Ito
Spain: Unai Simon, Cesar Azpilicueta (Carvajal 45′), Rodri, Pau Torres, Alejandro Balde (Alba 68′), Gavi (Ansu Fati 68′), Sergio Busquets, Pedri, Nico Williams (F.Torres 57′), Alvaro Morata (Asensio 57′), Dani Olmo
Substitutes: Robert Sanchez, Eric Garcia, Marcos Llorente, Koke, Marco Asensio, Ferran Torres, David Raya, Hugo Guillamon, Yeremy Pino, Jordi Alba, Carlos Soler, Dani Carvajal, Pablo Sarabia, Aymeric Laporte, Ansu Fati
Referee: Victor Gomes (South Africa)
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