- Costa Rica beat Japan 1-0 at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar and stole 3 points from the Asians on Matchday 2.
- The winner in the 81st minute came with the Central Americans’ only finish on target.
- In the evening, Germany and Spain drew 1-1. Everything is still open in Group E.
Costa Rica has returned to the World Cup in Qatar after the 7-0 debacle against Spain at the start. The victory for the Central Americans deserves the title of flattering, however, as they did not once appear dangerously in the opponent’s penalty area against Japan until the 81st minute.
Costa Rica secured the win with the only shot on goal. After the Japanese lost the ball on their own sixteen, the ball reached Keysher Fuller, who shot his “Ticos” with a lucky shot. The Japanese keeper Shuichi Gonda was still on it with his fingertips, but could no longer prevent the impact.
As fortunate as the defeat is for Costa Rica, it is bitter for the Asians. After the sensational opening win against Germany, Japan could have made the round of 16 qualification perfect with another win. But offensively, the Japanese owed too much.
Japan’s chance advantage worthless
It was certainly not an offensive spectacle that Japan and Costa Rica offered at the Ahmad Bin Ali Stadium. It took almost 46 minutes in Al-Rayyan, not far from the Qatari capital Doha, before the first goal was scored. But Keylor Navas was at his post when he was first tested by the Japanese.
The “Ticos” keeper had a much quieter working day than against Spain. In the first game he had to reach behind him 7 times. It’s no wonder that those in front concentrated primarily on defending on the second appearance.
And the Central Americans did that well. At the same time, the Japanese presented themselves too imprecisely. They tried deep passes and kept coming over the wings, but it never became mandatory. A look at the statistics also shows this: Japan recorded only 3 shots on goal.
With 10 minutes to go, they found out in a painful way that a single shot can ultimately be enough to win.
Here’s how to proceed
With the defeat, Japan surprisingly provided Germany with support. At the end of the preliminary round, Costa Rica and Germany as well as Japan and Spain meet on Thursday. Both games will take place at the same time at 8:00 p.m.