The FIFA World Cup 2022 in Qatar is off to the most breathtaking start possible. After the opening day of the tournament saw the hosts of the World Cup lose the inaugural match for the first time in its 92-year history, Argentina was taken down by a spirited performance by Saudi Arabia. To add to the list of sensational results, Japan defeated Germany for the first time in their history on Wednesday. 

Japan did not get off to the brightest starts possible but they had the ball in the net well before the Germans did. However, the strike from Daizen Maeda from close range was ruled out immediately as the forward was miles offside when the cross was whipped from the right flank. 

Germany continued to press higher and create better chances. There was great fluidity in the way they moved the ball but lacked the cutting edge. 

The goal they scored came via some brilliance from Joshua Kimmich and David Raum. Kimmich’s long ball found Raum perfectly inside the box, which made the keeper come out of his line. Shuichi Gonda tackled Raum twice and the referee had no hesitation in pointing to the spot. Ilkay Gundagon stepped up and smashed it straight into the net, giving them a much-needed lead.

Youngster Jamal Musiala and Serge Gnabry caused a lot of problems for the Japanese side and combined sensationally to set up Kai Havertz’s tap-in goal. However, VAR stepped in to rule out that strike as the Chelsea forward was off-side in the build-up. 

While Germany went into the second half with a 1-0 lead, they squandered plenty of presentable opportunities to score a second. This resulted in Japan taking advantage of heading into the final fifteen minutes of the game. A poor clearance inside the box from Manuel Neuer was capitalized by Ritsu Doan, who was in close distance to put the ball in the net. 

A few minutes later, a brilliant aerial ball on the counter Ko Itakura was collected by Takuma Asano. The VFL Bochum forward did exceedingly well to control the ball and take it close to Neuer, before smashing it from close range into the top near corner. 

Japan managed to hold that 2-1 lead until the final minute despite some valiant attempts by the 2014 champions, but Germany has now lost their last two World Cup league stage games to Asian sides (South Korea 2018 and Japan 2022).