World Cup Day 4 – LIVE: Spain leading Costa Rica after Germany fall to shock defeat
It’s time for day four of the 2022 World Cup, and there’s some big-hitters ready to take to the international stage today.
2018 runners-up Croatia, Germany and Spain are in action, as are Belgium – who take on a Canada side making their first World Cup appearance since 1986.
Follow along with 90min as the day unfolds.
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Preview
Luis Enrique’s Spain square off against Costa Rica in Wednesday’s third match.
Los Ticos have actually been to a World Cup quarter-final more recently than La Roja, but know very well this is a match in which they will see little of the ball.
Spain will take some heart in knowing they were a penalty shootout away from reaching last summer’s Euro 2020 final and they head to Qatar with a slightly stronger squad.
Japan secured one of their most famous results with a 2-1 comeback win against Germany.
The Samurai Blue actually had the ball in the net early on at the Khalifa International Stadium, but Daizen Maeda’s strike was ruled out for offside.
Goalkeeper Shuichi Gonda conceded a first-half penalty when he brought down David Raum, with Ilkay Gundogan making no mistake from the spot.
But Japan emerged for the second half a completely different outfit and put Germany to the sword, finding a well-deserved equaliser through Ritsu Doan.
With seven minutes remaining, a simple free-kick over the top caught the Germans cold, allowing Takuma Asano to race in behind and slot over Manuel Neuer.
How did Germany blow it?
Germany were punished for their wasteful finishing and their lackadaisical defending. They should be critiqued as such.
Nevertheless, Hajime Moriyasu deserves credit for changing the game with his subtitutions. Scorers Doan and Asano both came on during the second half, while ex-Liverpool forward Takumi Minamino and current Premier League favourites Takehiro Tomiyasu and Kaoru Mitoma made great impacts.
Gonda also atoned for his early error and pulled off a string of fabulous saves to keep Japan afloat.
Wednesday began with Morocco and Croatia playing out a 0-0 draw at the Al Bayt Stadium.
After just one goalless stalemate in 2018, we’ve already seen three such results in 24 hours here.
Ivan Perisic and Nikola Vlasic went closest to scoring for Croatia in the first half but couldn’t quite find the net, while Achraf Hakimi’s piledriver from 30 yards was beaten away by Dominik Livakovic and that was as good as it got for Morocco.
How did Croatia stumble?
This will be seen as a missed opportunity for Croatia in their expected battle with Belgium to top the group.
They looked far flatter than they ever did in 2018 on their run to the final, with their veteran stars looking a little worse for wear.
Both teams lacked pace, but could rely on strong performances from their defenders to claim a point at least.
Preview
A veteran Belgium side play relative newcomers in Canada to round off Wednesday’s action.
Roberto Martinez’s men still boast some old favourites who bring plenty of experience, and are expected to make life difficult for John Herdman’s charges in Les Rouges‘ first World Cup in 36 years.