Japan topped Group E with victory over Spain, who also qualified for the round of 16
Japan incredibly secured top spot in Group E with a 2-1 win over Spain, who qualified for the 2022 World Cup Round of 16 with victory.
Alvaro Morata dispatched La Roja in the 11th minute but Japan turned the tide early in the second half by equalizing through Ritsu Doan before Ao Tanaka won in the 51st minute.
The winner was disputed, however, with the ball appearing to have been dropped before being delivered to the Japanese midfielder who could not miss from close range.
Hajime Moriyasu’s side top the group and face Croatia in the round of 16 on Monday, while second-placed Spain take on Morocco on Tuesday.
Germany ended the group stage with a 4-2 win over Costa Rica, but that wasn’t enough to progress as Hansi Flick’s side were knocked out of the competition.
Brilliant work from Nic Williams on the right led to Spain’s first shot of the match in the sixth minute, although Sergio Busquets’ effort went over the mark.
Japan had their own chance two minutes later when Busquets collected the ball in the box and Junya Ito fired wide.
Morata then tested Japan goalkeeper Shuichi Gonda after encountering Dani Olmo’s cross as both sides threatened in an open start to the Group E clash.
Spain took the lead in the 12th minute when Morata, who was rewarded with a start after playing two substitute matches at the tournament, headed in Cesar Azpilicuet’s cross.
However, the bad news didn’t stop for Japan, with Germany also taking the lead against Costa Rica to finish second in the section.
Morata had another chance in the 22nd minute but the striker failed to beat the Japanese keeper on that occasion, before Olmo blocked a short shot as La Roja threatened to take the game.
Japan received three yellow cards at the end of the first half in a sign of their frustration, with Spain dominating the first half with an astonishing 83% possession.
Samurai Blue equalized in the 48th minute when Doan found the back of the net with a powerful save, but Spain keeper Unai Simon had both hands on the ball and perhaps should have done better.
Japan then unbelievably scored a second in the 53rd minute through Tanaka, with the midfielder slotting Kaoru Mitoma’s cross into the net.
At first glance it looked like the ball had gone in before Mitoma delivered, but a VAR review confirmed the goal would stand and knocked the group down.
The comeback was incredible given Japan’s first-half woes, and Spain boss Luis Enrique responded by bringing in Ferran Torres and Marco Asensio, followed by Ansu Fati and Jordi Alba after 10 minutes.
Japan had a big chance in the third when Takuma Asano found Mitoma’s low cross but the substitute cleared close to the post.
Costa Rica took the lead in the 70th minute against Germany, who would have knocked Spain out of the competition with such a result, but Flick’s side equalized shortly before winning.
Spain lived dangerously, Japan were always a threat on the counter-attack, but La Roja dominated possession as the game went into the final rallies.
Gonda did well to save Asensio’s long-range effort in the 89th minute. Olmo then fired wide in the dying moments and Japan held on incredibly top of Group E with a total of six points from three games in the section.
It was Germany who suffered rather than Spain, but La Roja managed to progress to the next round ahead of their European rivals on goal difference.
Lineups:
Japan Replacements: 19 H. Sakai, 2 M. Yamane, 24 Y. Soma, 9 K. Mitoma, 16 T. Tomiyasu, 18 T. Asano, 6 W. Endo, 20 S. Machino, 23 D. Schmidt, 10 T. Minamino, 7 G. Shibasaki, 26 H. Ito, 8 R. Dōan, 21 A. Ueda, 1 E. Kawashima
Spain Replacements: 6 Marcos Llorente, 8 Koke, 19 Carlos Soler, 17 Yeremy Pino, 11 Ferran Torres, 22 Pablo Sarabia, 25 Ansu Fati, 24 Aymeric Laporte, 18 Jordi Alba, 3 Eric García, 15 Hugo Guillamón, 20 Dani Carvajal, 10 Marco Asensio, 13 David Raya, 1 Robert Sánchez
Scorers:
51′ Ao Tanaka
11’Alvaro Morata
Yellow Cards:
Ko Itakura
Shogo Taniguchi
Maya Yoshida
