GROUP E PERMUTATIONS | Wounded Germany look to avoid consecutive group stage crash

Germany have only one FIFA World Cup match since becoming world champions in 2014, and that was when they beat Sweden in the group stages of the 2018 quadrennial tournament before they crashed out like they were not the defending champions. But that piece of poor statistic could prove detrimental to Costa Rica should they read too much into going into their final group stage match against Die Mannschaft.

Germany are on the verge of being eliminated in the group stages for the consecutive time and will need nothing less than three points against Costa Rica when they two countries face off, hoping that Spain will win their encounter against Japan. A win, with Japan also losing, will secure a last 16 berth for Germany, while a draw or loss would see them catch the first possible flight out of Qatar thereafter. A lot is at stake and like Argentina, Germany’s big match character is expected to prevail over the Costa Ricans, who have already proven to be defensively poor if put under pressure as seen in their opening match against Spain.

A draw for Japan, even if Germany win, would leave the runners-up position up for grabs on goal difference between the two sides, although Germany should be able to get a decent score margin against Costa Rica.

Spain who have made their intentions known with a very young squad need a point to secure a last 16 spot, but boasting a huge goal difference advantage from their 7-0 thumping of Costa Rica in their opening match, even a loss may still not be disastrous to their knockout stage ambitions.

Costa Rica will need to beat Germany to stand any chance of qualifying for the last 16, while a draw in both Group E matches would not make any difference as they are already in a difficult position with a minus six goal difference.

Worst case scenario

A loss and a second group stage crash for Germany would be disastrous for the once feared and respect team that won the 2014 FIFA World Cup. An 8-0 win for Germany and a win for Japan would see Spain crash out of the group stages of the 2022 FIFA World Cup but that is highly unlikely.

Prediction

Spain and Germany to go through.