Spain 1-1 Germany
The much-anticipated World Cup 2022 battle between the two European heavyweights in Group E, Spain and Germany, has ended in a stalemate.
Alvaro Morata had put Spain ahead just after the hour mark, but fellow substitute Niclas Fullkrug came on and scored Germany’s equaliser seven minutes from time.
The result leaves both teams with work to do heading into the final round of games. Spain still need at least a point against Japan to secure a spot in the round of 16, while Germany face a must-win situation against Costa Rica to stand any chance.
So read on as SBOTOP recaps this Group E heavyweight showdown.
Highlights of the game
The World Cup 2022 highlights for this much-anticipated match came quite quickly. The Spanish had the first big chance of the match on seven minutes as Dani Olmo launched a powerful right-footed shot from the edge of the penalty area. However, the RB Leipzig man was denied by Manuel Neuer, who got enough onto the shot to push it onto the crossbar.
The Germans then broke free a couple minutes later. Serge Gnabry had his shot saved by the onrushing Unai Simon, although Gnabry was offside anyway.
Spain had a close call of their own as Dani Olmo was called offside on the half-hour mark. The flag saved the blushes of Ferran Torres, whose shot went well over the crossbar from point-blank range.
Germany finally put the ball in the back of the net on 39 minutes as Antonio Rudiger headed Joshua Kimmich’s free kick past Simon. But again, the flag was up and the goal was chalked off.
Eleven minutes into the second half, Spain played themselves into trouble as Simon gave the ball away at the edge of his own penalty box. The chance fell to Kimmich from just beyond the penalty spot, but Simon redeemed himself as he parried the shot away for a corner.
Alvaro Morata had come on for Ferran Torres, and it was the Atletico Madrid man who would find the breakthrough just after the hour mark. Jordi Alba slid the ball beautifully into the path of Morata, who got ahead of Niklas Sule and poked the ball past Manuel Neuer at his near post.
And Spain could have doubled their lead just a couple minutes later as Olmo picked out Marco Asensio. But the Real Madrid midfielder made a real mess of his shot, which sailed well over the top.
The Germans made a trio of changes with 20 minutes left, bringing on Lukas Klostermann, Leroy Sane and 29-year-old Niclas Fullkrug.
Just minutes after coming on, Sane set up Jamal Musiala for a great chance. The teenager was one-on-one with Unai Simon, but the Bayern Munich wunderkind could not find the finish.
But with seven minutes left in normal time, the Germans finally struck. The two substitutes, Klostermann and Sane, combined down the right, and the third, Fullkrug, took the ball from Musiala’s feet and smashed it into the top corner.
The Germans had one last chance to snatch all three points in stoppage time as Sane got in behind the Spanish defence, but instead of squaring to Fullkrug in the middle, the Bayern Munich winger opted to take the chance himself, and he was unable to get a shot away.
And so it ended with a point apiece for the two European powerhouses, a result that will favour the Spanish much more than the Germans, who still have a lot of work to do to avoid a second successive World Cup group stage exit.
Key statistics
Although Spain controlled 64 per cent of possession, they were still outshot 11-7 by the Germans, who also had a 4-3 edge in shots on target.
Germany have failed to win their first two group stage games at a World Cup for the first in history and have yet to keep a clean sheet in eight competitive matches this calendar year.
Morata scored his 29th career international goal, pulling him into a tie with Fernando Hierro for fifth in Spain’s all-time scorers list.
Meanwhile, Fullkrug – who had zero caps for DFB Team before being called up to the World Cup squad amid their lack of reliable goalscoring strikers – has now scored twice in three appearances.
What’s next?
There’s still nothing settled in Group E heading into the last round of group games, as all four teams can still go through. Spain, who currently lead the group with four points, are in the driver’s seat as they will finish top if they beat Japan in their final group game.
But Germany’s World Cup 2022 odds of getting out of the group are still not great. They must beat Costa Rica and hope Japan don’t score an upset against Spain to progress to the knockout round.
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