The German fiasco in the World Cup is complete.
Despite the four-time World Cup champions winning 4-2 in the final group stage match against Costa Rica, the Germans have to travel home from Qatar before the play-offs begin. This because Spain surprisingly lost to Japan.
The Germans’ 1-0 lead at the start of the second half turned into a 1-2 deficit, and the hunt for first an equalizer and then a winning goal began.
In the 85th minute of the match, the lead goal for the Germans came when Kai Havertz netted for the second time during the evening. Four minutes later, the final result was determined when Niclas Füllkrug scored 4-2 from a suspected offside position.
But the intense forcing at the end proved to be of little help. In the second match, Spain lost to Japan 2-1, a result that placed Spain second in the group on better goal difference than Germany, but two points behind the smashing group winners Japan.