When we last saw Germany at the World Cup, it was bowing out early from its title defense after a humiliating exit in the 2018 group stage. Four years later, Die Mannschaft may have retooled, but they’re reeling again.
lkay Gündoğan’s 33rd-minute penalty kick gave the Germans the lead, but a failure to make their copious amounts of pressure pay off allowed Japan to hang around and eventually snag a hard-fought 2–1 win. Ritsu Dōan found the equalizer in the 75th minute and Takuma Asano scored a late go-ahead strike in the 83rd to emerge as the heroes for the Samurai Blue. Both Dōan and Asano feature for German Bundesliga clubs, an additional twist to one of the top matches at the World Cup thus far.
With Spain and Costa Rica’s match still to come, it remains to be seen how damaging dropping all three points will be for Hansi Flick’s side, which will face Spain next under immense amounts of heat considering the circumstances.
