Costa Rica 2-4 Germany: Bitter End to a Bitter Start
After a shock defeat to Japan, the Germans knew anything less than a victory over Costa Rica would mean an early elimination from the World Cup while the South Americans sought a draw for qualification to the next round.
Level on points with Japan,
Costa Ricaneeded a draw to proceed to the next round if Spain defeated Japan in the other match of the group while the Germans were packed to win.
As expected,
Germanystarted the game on the front foot as
Serge Gnabry
scored the opener in the 10th minute heading in David Raum's cross. Germany dominated the remainder of the first half as they just couldn't find the finishing touch.
The group's situation became chaotic as first Japan completed a comeback against Spain to secure the group's first place before Costa Rica's completed a shocking comeback against Germany through Tejeda and Vargas as they moved to second place in the group.
However,
Kai Havertz
scored the equalizer for the Germans in the 73rd minute as Costa Rica moved back to third place. Kai Havertz took third place from Costa Rica after he completed his brace in the 85th minute before Fullkrug made it 4-2 for Germany as they finished third in their World Cup group behind Japan and Spain.
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