It was a dramatic day of action on Day 12 of the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar, which saw some big names crash out at the group stages of the tournament.
The first ‘big team’ that were knocked out were Roberto Martinez’s Belgium, who needed a win to secure their passage into the Round of 16, but they not get the job done as they were held to a 0-0 draw with Croatia. Martinez sent on former Manchester United striker Romelu Lukaku at the start of the second half in search of that elusive goal that would sent Belgium through at Croatia’s expense and the former United striker had several chances to score, but failed to his chances, which saw Belgium crash out of the group stage.
A night to forget for Romelu Lukaku 🙃 pic.twitter.com/GWTb9y602O
— ESPN UK (@ESPNUK) December 1, 2022
The 0-0 draw with Croatia, turned out to be Martinez’s final game in charge of the national team after it was announced today that he would step down as Belgium coach.
This now means that Croatia and Morocco qualify from Group F. Morocco defeated Canada 2-1 to go through as group winners.
Morocco and Croatia advance to next round of the World Cup. Belgium and Canada are out. 🚨🇲🇦ðŸ‡ðŸ‡· #Qatar2022 pic.twitter.com/3GHV68BUw9
— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) December 1, 2022
In Group E, another footballing heavyweight were sent packing as Germany failed to qualify from the group stages, even though they defeated Costa Rica 4-2 at the Al Bayt Stadium. This was because Japan stunned Spain to win 2-1 to finish top of Group E and Spain finished second, which meant that Germany were knocked out on goal difference because both Germany and Spain finished on four points.
JAPAN DEFEAT SPAIN TO WIN GROUP E 🇯🇵 pic.twitter.com/R4Alisupa2
— ESPN FC (@ESPNFC) December 1, 2022
On a dramatic day of World Cup action, at one point Costa Rica were beating Germany 2-1 and whilst at the same time Japan took the lead at Spain, which meant that both Germany and Spain were heading out at the same time.
Spain’s shock 2-1 defeat to Japan now means that they will now avoid a potential quarter-final clash with Brazil.