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Germany bow out of Fifa World Cup despite 4-2 win over Costa Rica

This was four-time champions' second straight exit from the group stages of the World Cup

Published: Fri 2 Dec 2022, 12:57 AM

Updated: Fri 2 Dec 2022, 1:12 AM

  • By
  • Rituraj Borkakoty in Doha

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Costa Rica's Keylor Navas in action. Photo: Reuters

Costa Rica's Keylor Navas in action. Photo: Reuters

In a World Cup of upsets, four-time champions Germany bowed out of the tournament from the group stages despite an engrossing 4-2 win over Costa Rica at the Al Bayt Stadium on Thursday.

The Germans needed to win by a big margin against Costa Rica as Japan, who beat Spain 2-1 in the other game, reached the round of 16 along with La Roja from Group E.


Spain, the 2010 world champions, survived despite their loss to four-time Asian champions Japan on Thursday.

Meanwhile, the Germans were left ruing their loss to Japan in their first match.

In a must-win game against the central Americans on Thursday night, the Germans took an early lead through Serge Gnabry in the 10th minute.

But despite their dominance in the first half, Germany failed to add a second goal.

And it was Costa Rica that scored the goals first in the second half through Yeltsin Tejeda (58th minute) and Juan Pablo Vargas (70th minute).

With Spain trailing 2-1 around the same time at Khalifa International Stadium, Japan and Costa Rica were the top two teams in the group.

But Germany got three goals through Kai Havertz (73rd minute and 85th minute) and Niclas Fullkrug (89th minute).

In the end, it was not enough for Germany to dislodge Spain from the second position in the group as the Spaniards eventually reaped the rewards for their 7-0 win over Costa Rica in their opening game.

This was Germany’s second straight exit from the group stages of the World Cup, following their defeat to South Korea in the make-or-break game at Russia 2018.

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