December 01, (THEWILL) – In a thrilling 4-2 victory over Costa Rica on Thursday, at the Al Bayt Stadium, Kai Havertz scored twice, but all of Germany’s four goals were insufficient to prevent Die Mannschaft’s elimination from the World Cup once again.
Although Germany secured their first victory of the tournament, they were still eliminated at the group stage for the second straight World Cup. Even though a win was necessary for Germany to have any chance of moving on to the round of 16, they were still dependent on the result from the other match.
Serge Gnabry gave them an early, richly deserved lead to get them underway and raise their hopes, but Yeltsin Tejeda tied things up in the second half with his first goal for Costa Rica, and a touch from Juan Pablo Vargas caused an own-goal from Manuel Neuer in the 70th minute for a Costa Rica lead.
However, Havertz equalised and Germany quickly retook the lead through another Havertz goal. Fellow substitute Niclas Fullkrug then added a late fourth goal to increase their goal difference. But, it was a little too late for it to make a difference.
Japan and Spain are the teams that advance from Group E, with the Samurai Blue taking first place following an unexpected 2-1 victory over Luis Enrique’s team. It is another early end of the road for Germany. Despite having advanced from the first round of the group stage in each of their 16 prior appearances at the World Cup, Die Mannschaft has now been eliminated from the group stages at successive World Cups.
About the Author
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
