DOHA, Qatar — Another World Cup day, another World Cup shock.
Substitutes Ritsu Doan and Takuma Asano scored late goals Wednesday to give Japan a come-from-behind 2-1 victory over Germany.
Both Doan and Asano play for German clubs.
“I believe it’s a historic moment, a historic victory. If I think about the development of Japanese soccer, thinking of players, for them this was a big surprise,” said Japan coach Hajime Moriyasu, who had five Germany-based players in his starting lineup and three, including the scorers, on the bench.
“They’re fighting in a very strong, tough, prestigious league. They’ve been building up their strength. In that context we believe that those divisions (Bundesliga and second division) have been contributing to the development of Japanese players,” Moriyasu said. “I’m very grateful for that.”
Ilkay Gündogan had given four-time champion Germany the lead with a first-half penalty. But Doan, who plays for Freiburg, pounced on a rebound to equalize in the 76th minute after Germany goalkeeper Manuel Neuer blocked a shot from Takumi Minamino.
Then Asano, who plays for Bochum, sprinted clear of Nico Schlotterbeck and beat Neuer from a narrow angle in the 83rd minute of the first competitive meeting between the two nations.
The match was played a day after Argentina’s 2-1 upset loss to Saudi Arabia.
Before Wednesday’s game, Germany’s players covered their mouths during the team photo in an apparent rebuke to FIFA following its decision to stop plans to wear armbands to protest discrimination in host nation Qatar.
Nancy Faeser, Germany’s sports minister, attended the match at the Khalifa International Stadium and was sitting beside FIFA president Gianni Infantino while wearing the same “One Love” armband that FIFA had outlawed with its threats of consequences.
It was only the third time Germany had lost its tournament-opening game after defeats against Algeria in 1982 and Mexico in 2018. In the other World Cup openers for Germany, the team had won 13 matches and drawn four.
Germany outplayed Japan for much of the match with 24 attempts on goal compared to Japan’s 11. Despite giving away the penalty for a clumsy challenge on left back David Raum, Japan goalkeeper Shuichi Gonda made a string of saves and was player of the game.
“We fought as a team,” Gonda said. “We have to make sure we never stop.”
Japan next plays Costa Rica, while Germany faces Spain on Sunday.
Germany’s buildup was fraught by protests and political statements because of Qatar’s human rights record and its treatment of migrant workers and members of the LGBTQ community.
Germany was playing at the World Cup for the first time since its shocking group-stage exit as defending champion in 2018, while Japan is appearing in its seventh straight World Cup and is looking to reach the quarterfinals for the first time.
Croatia’s Marcelo Brozovic, left, Morocco’s Selim Amallah and Croatia’s Dejan Lovren vie for the ball during a World Cup Group F match Wednesday, Nov. 23, 2022, at the Al Bayt Stadium in Al Khor, Qatar. (AP Photo/Darko Vojinovic)
Morocco 0, Croatia 0
Another surprisingly strong performance by an Arab country at the World Cup in Qatar stifled the threat of Luka Modric and held 2018 finalist Croatia to a 0-0 draw.
Morocco’s resilient performance Wednesday came 24 hours after Saudi Arabia sparked the first World Cup in the Middle East into life by beating Lionel Messi’s Argentina in one of the biggest upsets in the tournament’s history.
Tunisia followed that up with a scoreless draw against European Championship semifinalist Denmark.
Morocco managed to do enough to rein in Croatia captain Modric, who was still his team’s best player in their Group F opener and had one of the best chances when his shot just rose over the crossbar in the first half.
Dejan Lovran got a shot off at a corner in the second half and Sofyan Amrabat cleared off the line for Morocco to preserve the draw.
Modric didn’t have nearly the same kind of impact he had throughout the last World Cup in Russia when he led Croatia to its first final before losing to France.
That was largely down to Morocco, who harassed and harried the Croatians at every turn, buoyed by their red-shirted fans, who outnumbered and made much more noise than the Croatian supporters.
The 37-year-old Modric is playing in his fourth and what’s expected to be his final World Cup, where he’s looking to add an international title to his trophy-laden career with Real Madrid.
He was voted best player at the World Cup four years ago to wide acclaim. When he was then announced as player of the match on Wednesday, it was greeted by an outburst of boos from Morocco fans who had chanted and whirled scarves as they jumped up and down in the final minutes at Al Bayt Stadium.
Paris Saint-Germain defender Achraf Hakimi had the best chance for Morocco with a thumping second-half shot punched away with both fists by goalkeeper Dominik Livakovic.
The result was a major confidence-booster for Morocco and coach Walid Regragui, who was only hired at the end of August – his first international coaching job – and had less than three months to prepare the team for Qatar.
Morocco and Regragui have another huge test in their next game against No. 2-ranked Belgium in a tough Group F. Croatia will expect a win against Canada.
Spain’s Marco Asensio, left, celebrates with Dani Olmo after scoring his side’s second goal during their 7-0 victory over Costa Rica in a World Cup Group E match Wednesday, Nov. 23, 2022, at the Al Thumama Stadium in Doha, Qatar. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)
Spain 7, Costa Rica 0
Spain’s young squad got off to a high-scoring start at the World Cup, routing Costa Rica 7-0 on Wednesday.
Not long after Japan surprised Germany 2-1 in the other Group E match, Spain avoided any chance of an upset with Dani Olmo, Marco Asensio and Ferran Torres scoring a goal each in the first 31 minutes. Torres, Gavi, Carlos Soler and Álvaro Morata added to the lead in the second half.
Olmo’s goal was the 100th at World Cups for Spain, which became the sixth nation to score more than 100 times in the tournament.
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It was the first time Spain has scored seven goals in a World Cup match.
With 18-year-old Gavi and 19-year-old Pedri starting, Spain became the first European nation with two teenagers in the starting lineup of a World Cup match in 60 years, according to statistics platform Opta.
Gavi then became the youngest goal scorer at the World Cup since Pelé in the 1958 final, also according to Opta.