Four times World Cup Champions – Germany, have been eliminated from the 2022 FIFA World Cup after defeating Costa Rica 4-2 in Round 3, Group E, match played at Al Bayt Stadium, Al Khor, Qatar.

Japan and Spain made it to the knockout stage after Japan’s 2-1 victory over Spain in the match played at Khalifa International Stadium, Doha, Qatar.

It was a fierce football battle that was undecided until the very last moments of the two group matches.

Group E we will never forget you. ❤️#FIFAWorldCup | #Qatar2022

— FIFA World Cup (@FIFAWorldCup) December 1, 2022

Germany led Costa Rica early with a goal scored by Bayern Munich talisman – Serge Gnabry in tenth minute of the first half with an assist from David Raum.

Yeltsin Tejeda equalized for Costa Rica in 58th minute of the second half of the match, before Juan Pablo Vargas increased the tally to 2- 1 for Costa Rica in 70th minutes of the second half of the match as his flick was directed into the net by Neuer.

Chelsea forward – Kai Havertz grabbed a brace within 12 minutes while Nicklas Fullkrug scored the fourth goal in 89th minute for Germany to take the match beyond the reach of the Costa Ricans.

Kai Havertz put on a show, scoring twice for Germany as they gave everything in the hope the results would fall their way.

Instant impact when he came on and your #Budweiser Player of the Match 🏆

🇨🇷 #CRCGER 🇩🇪 #POTM #YoursToTake #BringHomeTheBud pic.twitter.com/9HcxfbbMwj

— FIFA World Cup (@FIFAWorldCup) December 1, 2022

Following Sane’s pass, Fullkrug scored Germany’s fourth goal to secure the victory. Prior to VAR stepping in to award the goal, the goal was first disallowed for offside.

Germany has now been knocked out from the group stages of the World Cups back-to-back, after making it past the first round of the group stage in each of their last 16 appearances in the tournament.

In the second group match, Alvaro Morata scored for Spain in the 11th minute of the first half of the match after receiving a pass from Cesar Azpilicueta.

In the second half, though, Japan mounted a stunning comeback with goals from Doan and Tanaka.

Ritsu Doan equalized for Japan in 48th minute of the second half of the match with an assist from Junya Ito.

Central Match Referee – Victor Gomez, after a meticulous VAR review, allowed Ao Tanaka’s second and winning goal scored for Japan in 53rd minute of the match with an assist from Kaoru Mitoma.

😱 @f95 midfielder Ao Tanaka has just eliminated Germany from the #FIFAWorldCup!

Tanaka’s historic winner against Spain earns him hero status in Japan, and tonight’s @Budweiser Player of the Match award.

🇯🇵 #JPNESP 🇪🇸 #POTM #YoursToTake #BringHomeTheBud @budfootball pic.twitter.com/eCpcCePWwd

— FIFA World Cup (@FIFAWorldCup) December 1, 2022

With the victory, Japan pulled through to the next stage of the tournament as group winners while Spain go through as runners-up.

Japan will now be looking forward to face Croatia in the Round of 16 on Monday while Spain lock horns with Morocco the following day.

𝑳𝒊𝒌𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒑𝒐𝒔𝒕? 𝑷𝒍𝒆𝒂𝒔𝒆 𝒍𝒆𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒂 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒃𝒐𝒙!