Paired in the aptly named ‘Group of Death’ with their European rivals Spain, as well as Japan and Costa Rica, Germany’s 2022 World Cup campaign was never going to be easy. But Hansi Flick’s side has quality in abundance and they were still expected to progress to the knockout stages, with the only debate prior to the tournament being whether they’d finish atop the standings or second to 2010 champions La Roja.
What Went Wrong For Germany In Group E?
However, when Group E came to its thrilling conclusion on December 1 — Germany found themselves on an early flight home from Qatar. A 4-2 victory over Costa Rica wasn’t enough to secure DFB-team one of the lucrative spots in the round of 16, as Japan — who stunned both them and Spain with 2-1 wins— stole the top spot from Luis Enrique’s Reds, much to the surprise of everyone who has a bet on football.
It’s a sorry state of affairs for Germany. By no means were they expected to go all the way and compete in the final of the World Cup at the Lusail Stadium on December 18, but after reaching the round of 16 of Euro 2020 18 months ago — losing to 2-0 England at Wembley — they would have at least liked to have shown progress from that in the Middle East.
Instead, Flick and company will be left scratching their heads and wondering how they have possibly regressed. The excuse book has already been in use by some of Germany’s players, with the consensus from the likes of Bayern Munich’s Joshua Kimmich and Chelsea forward Kai Havertz that their nation’s exit was down to too many missed chances in their group games.
“We have to look at ourselves,” Havertz said after he was awarded the player of the match accolade after the Costa Rica game. “We had enough chances to win against Japan, enough chances to win against Spain. We had the game in our hands today and still conceded two goals against Costa, which shouldn’t really be possible with the quality we have.”
There is an argument for that, of course. Germany had a massive 25 attempts in their opening game against Japan — nine of which were on target. But they managed to find the back of the net just once. It was the same story against Spain — 10 shots, four on target, one goal.
Against Costa Rica, Germany were more prolific— scoring four times. But with 32 shots and 11 on target, Flick’s side could have had a bucket load — perhaps even enough to score the amount needed to overtake Spain’s goal difference and progress to the round of 16 ahead of La Roja.
But you also have to look at the defence. While the attack are failing to put the ball in the back of the net at one end of the pitch, they are letting too many at the other — and when attackers are forced to chase games and create openings that might not be there, it automatically becomes harder to win matches in the World Cup odds.
It’s back to the drawing board for Germany. Let’s see what they are like in two years time when Euro 2024 takes place back on home soil.
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