World Cup LIVE: Famous Japanese victory sends Germany packing, Spain advance

Thanks again for your company on another crazy morning in Qatar. To recap — Germany are out at the group stage for the second time in successive tournaments. Japan beat Spain — meaning they’ve rolled both the 2010 and 2014 champions en route to topping this year’s Group of Death.

Earlier, world No.2 Belgium were eliminated after a goalless stalemate with 2018 runners-up Croatia.

Tonight, the final two groups will be decided when South Korea face Cristiano Ronaldo’s Portugal and Ghana play Uruguay. Those games are both at 2am Saturday (AEDT) before we get another look at favourites Brazil against Cameroon and Serbia face Switzerland (both 6am).

Here’s how those groups look heading into the final matches:

We’ll leave you with Malcolm Knox’s superb weekly column. We may be a nation of bandwagon-jumpers, but there’s room for many more.

Credit: Illustration: Simon Letch

Read the full piece here.

We’ll be back live on Sunday morning for Australia’s do-or-die clash with Argentina. It’s going to be huge. Enjoy it until then, and hopefully the enjoyment continues well into next week. Carn Straya.

Adios.

Vince Rugari has taken a deeper look at Australia’s historic World Cup round-of-16 showdown with the South American champions.

Garang Kuol, Andrew Redmayne, Lionel Messi, Graham Arnold and Mathew Leckie.Credit: Getty

Read the full story here.

Anything we’ve forgotten? Let us know...

Brazilian soccer great Pele thanked fans worldwide on Thursday for the well-wishes he has received since being admitted to a Sao Paulo hospital amid his fight against cancer.

The 82-year-old, who had a colon tumour removed in September 2021, was hospitalised Tuesday to regulate his medication, his daughter said.

Messages of support have poured in from around the world including from Brazil coach Tite at the World Cup in Qatar.

“It’s always nice to receive positive messages like this,” Pele said in an Instagram post showing a building in Qatar displaying wishes for his recovery. “Thanks to Qatar for this tribute, and to everyone who sends me good vibes.”

Pele said he was making his monthly visit. His daughter Kely Nascimento said Wednesday there is “no emergency” concerning her father’s health. She and another sister, Flavia Nascimento, on Thursday published pictures of several members of Pelé’s family at an undisclosed location.

Hospital Albert Einstein in Sao Paulo did not issue a daily statement about the health of Edson Arantes do Nascimento, the man globally known as Pele.

Pele helped Brazil win the 1958, 1962 and 1970 World Cups and remains the country’s all-time leading scorer with 77 goals in 92 matches for the national team.

AP

Germany’s second successive group stage exit appears shocking for a country with such a history of World Cup success - but it shouldn’t have been.

Germany came to Qatar with a leaky defence that had not kept a clean sheet in a competitive game since the 9-0 victory over Liechtenstein in a World Cup qualifier a year ago.

Since then, they have conceded 15 goals in 10 competitive games, while in three friendly matches they conceded one goal against the Netherlands and kept a clean sheet only against Israel and Oman.

Data company Nielsen Gracenote gave them a 41 per cent chance of failing to progress on the back of their recent struggles.

Against Costa Rica their defence was shaky, and a Niklas Sule blunder almost cost them when he attempted to clear an easy cross.

Manuel Neuer was present to save his teammates David Raum and Antonio Rudiger, when he tipped over the bar a shot from Keysher Fuller from close range and preserve the lead Serge Gnabry had given them in the first half with a header.

With coach Hansi Flick realising that they needed to win by a considerable margin if they were to prolong their stay at the World Cup, big gaps started to appear in Germany’s defence.

Germany traditionally have always had a focal point striker but since Miroslav Klose and Mario Gomez departed the stage, no one has stepped in to fill the void.

Germany have instead opted to play with false nines instead of clear-cut centre forwards and it didn’t work in Russia four years ago when they finished bottom of their group.

On that occasion it was the first time that Germany had failed to pass the group stage since 1938 - which was a different format.

What happened in Qatar will not come as a huge surprise to those who had kept a close eye on Germany’s build-up. Flick was forced to include inexperienced duo Niklas Fuellkrug, 29, and 18-year-old Youssoufa Moukoko.

Germany created many chances against Japan but lacked accuracy in front of goal, while a late equaliser by Fullkrug allowed Germany to salvage a point against Spain.

Reuters

Japan coach Hajime Moriyasu praised the perseverance of his players after they stunned a second World Cup-winning nation in almost identical circumstances in little more than a week to secure passage to the last 16.

The Samurai Blue endured intense pressure from Spain in the first half and went 1-0 down but two quickfire goals after the break gave them another famous victory to go with their upset of Germany.

Ecstatic Japanese fans in Qatar.Credit: AP

“Spain are one of the best teams in the world and we knew before the game that this was going to be very difficult, and indeed it was,” he said.

“But the players persisted and they persevered and they turned the tide of the game. Everybody was excited that we were able to play as one again.

“There were many fans who came all the way from Japan, as well as those that stayed at home. We are gifting this win to the people of Japan, and we are very happy about it.”

Moriyasu came under fire for his timid tactics when Japan were beaten by Costa Rica in their second match to apparently give up the advantage of the upset of Germany.

Despite producing a carbon copy of his tactical changes against the Germans, including a move to a back three and bringing on Ritsu Doan to score the equaliser, Moriyasu shared the credit with his players.

“During training, we confirmed a few things and the players gave me some ideas,” he added. “We decided that we were going to defend and try to counterattack ... it was a choice of all of us collectively.”

Reuters

Graham Arnold’s side have learned from their defeat against France not to defer to anyone at the World Cup - including Argentina’s seven-time Ballon d’Or winner.

Lionel Messi.Credit: Getty

Read the full story here.

Germany have enough quality to become a dominant force in football again but one thing that is currently missing is their strength in defending which helped them win four World Cups, coach Hansi Flick says.

When asked what Germany needed to be considered among the world’s elite again, Flick said they needed to take a leaf out of Spain’s book after their European counterparts built a young team with a strong tactical foundation.

Hansi Flick.Credit: AP

“We do have players with top clubs and we do have the quality. For the future of German football, we need to train differently,” Flick said.

“For years we’ve been talking about new goalkeepers and wing-backs... but what was always good was that we defended well. We need the basics (to be right).

“Spain are good at training young players, they know their tactics very well. In the next 10 years, we need to focus on the new generation of footballers.”

Flick also refused to blame Spain for losing to Japan, who topped the group with two wins over the European sides.

“I don’t care about different teams, it’s all up to us. If you look at the matches and number of goals scored, it’s our fault,” he said.

Six of the world’s top 20 sides have failed to make it out of their groups. They are Belgium (2), Denmark (10), Germany (11), Mexico (13), Wales (19) and Iran (20).

Uruguay (14) and Switzerland (15), who are both in action tomorrow, are no guarantee of making it through either.

If you just got to your desk - or just rolled out of bed after a long day celebrating the Socceroos - here’s what you’ve missed so far.

Four-time champions Germany sensationally crashed out despite a 4-2 victory over Costa Rica in their last group E match, tumbling out at the first hurdle for the second consecutive time.

Germany’s bench reacts to their World Cup exit.Credit: AP

Read the group E wrap here.

They join world No.2 Belgium, who fought out a goalless draw with Croatia, who advanced alongside Morocco. One of Morocco and Japan could be in the last eight of the World Cup.

Read the group F wrap here.

Honestly, at this point the Socceroos beating Argentina would have to be the more likely result, right? Right?

Footage has emerged of the moment that Denmark inadvertently gave Graham Arnold’s men a sneak peek into their tactical plans during Australia’s historic World Cup win.

Read the full story here.