Matchday 8 of the 2022 FIFA World Cup was a combative one, with every game hotly contested.
Match 25
Japan V Costa Rica
Keysher Fuller proved the hero as Costa Rica bounced back from their devastating loss to Spain in a big way, edging Japan 1-0 at Ahmed Bin Ali Stadium on Sunday night (AEDT).
While a win would have put Japan in the best possible position to advance to the Round of 16, both teams didn’t show much aggression in a scoreless first half, registering just one shot apiece.
The start of the second half saw Japan begin to play more of the football that saw them upset Germany, multiple attacks coming close to beating Keylor Navas.
But in the 81st minute, the ball found right-back Fuller just inside the edge of the box, and his arcing left-foot shot looped up and took a deflection off the outstretched gloves of Japan keeper Shuichi Gonda to nestle in the back of the net.
The Costa Rican defence held off a flurry of late Japanese attacks to win their first match of this World Cup and become the third team in Group E on three points along with Spain and Japan.
Match 26
Belgium v Morocco
Morocco secured just their third FIFA World Cup win in history as second half strikes from Abdelhamid Sabiri and Zakaria Aboukhlal helped down Belgium 2-0 at Al Thumama Stadium on Monday morning (AEDT).
A fast-flowing first 45 saw Belgium consistently threaten from set pieces, but Morocco’s defence was steadfast in repelling them, before a Hakim Ziyech free-kick looked to have given the Atlas Lions the lead on the stroke of half-time only to be ruled out by VAR which deemed Romain Saiss to be offside.
The second half began at the same frenetic pace with Morocco building more momentum, and it paid off when Sabiri surprised Belgium keeper Thibaut Courtois, sneaking a narrow free kick in the near corner after 73 minutes to incite pandemonium amongst the huge Moroccan crowd.
Having terrorised Belgium all day, Ziyech then found his way to the byline and squared it to Aboukhlal in the second minute of injury time who expertly finished to seal a famous victory.
With Canada eliminated in the next game, Morocco now sit tied with Croatia on 4 points in Group F with Belgium third on 3 heading into the last round.
Match 27
Croatia v Canada
Croatia reminded the world of why they made the World Cup final four years ago with a stellar performance to beat Canada 4-1 and ensure the North American nation became the second side eliminated from this year’s tournament.
Canada got off to an amazing start when star Alphonso Davies leapt high to head home for their first ever World Cup goal in just the second minute, and from there the pace was frenetic with attacks flowing both ways.
Andrej Kramaric restored parity for Croatia as their sustained pressure paid off in the 36th minute before striker Marko Lavija drilled in a second on the stroke of half-time.
The second half was all Croatia as Canada appeared to be running out of steam, Kramaric scoring another 20 minutes from time before Lavro Majer finished a breakaway in injury time to complete a dominant performance and take Zlatko Dalic’s men top of Group F.
Match 28
Spain v Germany
It was all Spain in the opening minutes of the match, picking up where they left off against Costa Rica as they created several chances, the best resulting in Olmo cannoning a shot that Manuel Neuer deflected onto the bar.
An aggressive pressing strategy from Germany nearly proved fruitful when they won possession on the edge of the box, with Spain goalkeeper Unai Simon called to make a sharp save.
Hansi Flick's men thought they had taken an unlikely lead in the 39th minute when defender Antonio Rudiger powered in a header from a Joshua Kimmich free kick, but the German celebrations were cut short as VAR quickly ruled that he was offside.
Spain again came to the fore in the early minutes of the second half and were able to exploit a lot of open space in the German defence with Jordi Alba crossing early to find Alvaro Morata who produced a smart dink past Neuer at the near post.
Germany came back late to save their World Cup hopes, Niklas Füllkrug’s powerful strike from a clever series of passes cancelling out Alvaro Morata’s opener.
Germany spurned a number of other chances as well, with Simon solid in goal to deny a couple of one-on-one situations.
