Suspense and strong moments: this day of the third and last meeting of groups E and F was particularly rich in emotions.
The big losers: Belgium and Germany.
Arrived with high ambitions, the two European selections will not see the round of 16.
For the Germans this is the second time in two World Cups, after 2018. Germany has however fulfilled its mission of the day by dominating Costa Rica (4-2).
However, it was not easy.
The partners of Keylor Navas are indeed caught behind between the 70th and the 73rd and then found themselves in a position to be qualified.
Finally, the coup de grace for Germany came from the stunning Japanese success against Spain (2-1).
The Belgians thought they could get away with it.
At the end of the match, they got the balls of qualification, in particular in additional time, by Romelu Lukaku.
But the striker totally missed these opportunities and ended up between rage and despair, consoled by Thierry Henry, a member of the Diables Rouges staff.
[🎞️VIDEO] 🏆 #FIFAWorldCup
🇭🇷🇧🇪 This failure of Romalu Lukaku who could have qualified Belgium...#CROBEL #beINFWC2022 https://t.co/KlxxCQ4YEg
— beIN SPORTS (@beinsports_FR) December 1, 2022
The perf: Japan has resources
For the second time in the competition, the Japanese have won a game after being behind at the break.
After knocking out Germany, they did it again against Spain to win 2-1 each time.
Only two teams had achieved this performance in the same World Cup: Brazil in 1938 and Germany in 1970.
The sentence: “We wanted to go down in history!
We are happy for the Moroccan people and for the players!
»
Morocco coach Walid Regragui after his team finished first in their group with 7 points.
:
VAR interventions that question
Twice this Thursday, the use of VAR left an impression of incomprehension.
First there is this offside reported against the Croatian Lovren, in the 17th minute, while the images of the detector show only an imperceptible advance of his shoulder compared to that of the Belgian defender.
This VAR decision for Croatia 😮 pic.twitter.com/Knr2jCPhPZ
— ESPN FC (@ESPNFC) December 1, 2022
Then there was this Japanese action in the 51st minute which led to the second Japanese goal, that of the victory against Spain (2-1), and indirectly to the elimination of Germany, provided of course that Japan and Spain shared the points.
The VAR studied this action at length to determine whether the ball had completely crossed the line.
She thought not and therefore validated Japan's second goal.
Photo REUTERS/Jennifer Lorenzini
The number: 1
The first own goal was scored in this World Cup.
It was Moroccan Aguerd who surprised his goalkeeper by deflecting a Canadian strike for the 2-1.
It was also the hundredth goal scored since the start of the competition.
Referee: Stephanie Frappart
FIFA hailed a "moment" apart.
Is right.
This Thursday, the French referee became the first woman to lead a World Cup match.
And during Costa Rica - Germany she perfectly mastered the debates.
Stéphanie Frappart had a very good match.
Photo by Icon sport PictureAlliance / Icon Sport
Chambering: when beIN tickles TF1
"France-Poland, round of 16, to live live and until the last moments on beIN Sports".
In a trailer, the Qatari channel chambered TF1 after the confusion of the premature antenna rendering the day before during France-Tunisia (0-1).
