Costa Rica 2-4 Germany: Die Mannschaft wins but it’s too late
Costa Rica and Germany are both out of the World Cup!
The game started off with an early German goal. In the second half the match went back and forth with five more goals. In the end, Germany won 4-2 but still has to go home because Spain lost 1-2 to Japan.
Germany started with Joshua Kimmich at right back while Jamal Musiala moved to the No. 10. Contrary to expectations, Niklas Füllkrug did not start in the attack, but Thomas Müller did. Leroy Sané began on the left wing after he only came from the bench against Spain.
For Costa Rica, there were three changes in the starting XI. Francisco Calvo had to sit out this game because of too many red cards. For him Juan Pablo Vargas started on the left side. Brandon Aguilera and Johan Venegas rotated into the team for Anthony Contreras and Gerson Torres.
Die Mannschaft went into the match with the clear goal of winning to have a chance of reaching the last 16. To do so, Japan had to lose or draw against Spain in the parallel match and Germany had to win by at least two goals.
On the other hand, a win would have been enough for Costa Rica to advance. What was special about this match was that for the first time a female referee in France’s Stéphanie Frappart officiated a World Cup match.
Germany takes lead in first half
As expected, Germany started with high pressing and possession football against Los Ticos.
Musiala tested Keylor Navas in the Costa Rican goal for the first time in the second minute, but Navas was able to clear for a corner.
Serge Gnabry was more successful with his header. After a cross from David Raum, he put the ball into the lower right corner of the goal, which Navas could not keep out (10′).
Los Ticos could hardly free themselves from their own half. However, the first attacking attempt on the right side was unsuccessful – the cross landed on Joshua Kimmich’s feet, who sent the ball to Manuel Neuer with his chest.
Costa Rica’s defence continued to shake. After losing the ball in the build-up, Musiala played a dangerous ball deep. However, Navas was able to prevent the worst from happening as he got to the ball just before the onrushing Müller.
The first shot on goal by Los Ticos was a real challenge. After a terrible mistake by Antonio Rüdiger, Keysher Fuller had a free shot in front of Neuer. However, the German goalkeeper made a strong one-handed save for a corner.
The team continued the second half exactly where they had left off – with a lot of possession. However, this did not initially lead to any top-class scoring chances. Coach Hansi Flick obviously recognised this and substituted striker Niklas Füllkrug for Ilkay Gündogan.
A high-scoring second half
Almost out of nowhere came the wake-up call for the Germans. Neuer was not able to properly defend a cross from Kendall Waston, which landed directly at the feet of Yeltsin Tejeda. Tejeda accepted the invitation and scored (58′).
The German answer was not long in coming. Musiala hit the post after a successful dribble and could not control the rebound.
Flick also brought on Kai Havertz and Mario Götze for full offensive power for his team. However, this plan backfired. Not Germany, but Costa Rica scored the next goal. It was an own goal by Neuer, who put Los Ticos in the lead (70′). The goalkeeper did not get to the ball properly after a free kick and pushed the ball over the line himself.
Now the game really got going. Substitute Havertz scored the equaliser again after an assist from Kimmich (73′). Füllkrug almost added to the tally, but Navas made a brilliant save in the nick of time.
It was Havertz once again who put Germany back on course. The Chelsea player only had to hold out his foot to score after a cross from Serge Gnabry (85′).
Füllkrug even made it 4-2 after an assist by Kimmich in the 89th minute. However, this was still not enough to proceed to the round of 16 as Spain lost to Japan with both of those teams moving further in the tournament.
As Japan won 2-1 against Spain, none of these teams proceeds to the round of 16. This is Germany’s second time in a row that they exit the tournament after the group stage.
