Goals from substitutes Ritsu Doan and Takuma Asano in the last 15 minutes gave Japan a stunning 2-1 upset over four-times champions Germany in their FIFA World Cup Group E opener on Wednesday.
The Germans had dominated the contest at the Khalifa International Stadium and taken the lead with a 33rd minute penalty from Ilkay Guendogan after Japan goalkeeper Shuichi Gonda had fouled wing back David Raum.
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The second goal never came, however, and Japan’s raids into the German half became more and more frequent, culminating in Doan’s equaliser and a brilliant finish from Asano eight minutes later.
The defeat was the third in a row in the opening match of a major championship for Germany after a loss to Mexico at the 2018 World Cup, when they bowed out in the first round as champions, and to France at Euro 2020.
