Japan came back from behind to beat Germany 2-1 as Hansi Flick’s side suffer a second successive World Cup opening defeat.
lkay Gundogan opened the scoring from the spot for Germany after 30 minutes but substitutes Ritsu Doan and Takuma Asano scored second-half goals to earn Japan a memorable victory at the Khalifa International Stadium.
Japan had the ball in the net after eight minutes, but it was ruled out for offside. Ao Tanaka dispossessed Ilkay Gundogan on the halfway line and offloaded the ball to a rapid Junya Ito down Japan’s right-hand side, who drove forward and played a pinpoint low cross toward Daizen Maeda at the back post, but the striker had drifted two or three yards offside when he slotted the ball beyond Manuel Neuer.
Germany started slowly but gradually grew into the game, and made their best move when Serge Gnabry found Gundogan just outside Japan’s penalty area, but instead of looking for David Raum who had created acres of space down Germany’s left flank, took the shot off himself which was comfortably retrieved by Shuichi Gonda.
One minute later Germany were awarded a penalty when Raum was rashly brought down by Gonda, as the German full-back turned away from goal to recycle the ball for a second wave of attack. Gundogan stepped up to score his first World Cup goal as he sent Gonda the wrong way to give Germany the lead after 33 minutes.
Kai Havertz thought he had doubled Germany’s lead when he tapped in a close-range effort, but similarly to Maeda in the first half, had drifted a few yards offside and the goal was ruled out after a quick VAR check.
Germany came out of the blocks much sharper in the second half and almost grabbed a second when Jamal Musiala showed a piece of excellence. The teenager picked up the ball on the left side of Japan’s penalty area and weaved his way into the centre of the box before making room for a shot, but he couldn’t find the target as he watched his effort fly over the bar.
Germany’s goalscorer came close to finding a second on the hour mark when his slotted shot from the edge of the box hit the foot on the post.
Japan made a string of changes in the second half and ultimately turned the game on its head. Freiburg’s Doan fired the ball into an empty net to equalise with 15 minutes on the clock after Manuel Neuer had denied a Takumi Minamino effort, but could only push the ball as far out as a lively Doan.
As Germany pushed for a winner they switched off at the back when Japan defender Ko Itakura found Asano with a route one ball over the top. Asano took the ball down with elegance before driving toward the German goal before smashing the ball into the roof of the net from a tight angle to earn all three points.
The loss for Germany is the second opening defeat they’ve suffered at the World Cup, and they face Spain next as they look to get their campaign back on track.
