Day four of the 2022 World Cup saw another eight teams get their campaigns underway, with Group E and Group F entering the fray.
2018 runners-up Croatia got the ball rolling against Morocco in the early kick-off, while Germany took on Japan hoping to make up for a 2018 tournament and Spain faced Costa Rica. There was also a first World Cup appearance since 1986 for Canada as they played European giants Belgium.
This is how all of the action unfolded…
Belgium 1-0 Canada
Belgium weathered a significant storm from a Canada side representing their country at a World Cup for the first time in 36 long years in Wednesday’s final World Cup game.
Canada were vibrant and took the game to the world’s number three ranked national team. They had multiple opportunities to score in the first half, the best when a VAR intervention resulted in the referee awarding a penalty. But Alphonso Davies failed to beat Thibaut Courtois.
Michy Batshuayi, playing his club football in Turkey with Fenerbahce this season, eventually gave Belgium a lead after racing onto a long through ball down the middle. Second half substitutions from Roberto Martinez also helped kill off the game in Belgium’s favour.
Spain 7-0 Costa Rica
Spain put shock defeats for Argentina and Germany to one side as they swept aside Costa Rica 7-0 in one of the most one-sided World Cup games seen in recent memory.
Luis Enrique named a starting XI consisting of seven midfielders, but his bold selections paid dividends as they absolutely dominated a dismal Costa Rica from the first minute.
Dani Olmo opened the scoring, Marco Asensio grabbed the second and Ferran Torres put the contest to bed before half-time with a third from the penalty spot. The Barcelona winger grabbed another early on in the second half, before Gavi, Carlos Soler and Alvaro Morata added the gloss to what was a terrific performance from Luis Enrique’s side.
Germany 1-2 Japan
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 against Japan?
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.
