Germany beat Costa Rica 4-2, but it was not enough as they exit the World Cup at the group stage. After dominating the majority of the first half, Serge Gnabry was the only goalscorer as he headed in a David Raum cross. In the second half, Costa Rica came alive and scored twice to take the lead. Substitutes Kai Havertz and Niclas Füllkrug both scored for Germany but their efforts were not good enough as Japan beat Spain 2-1 in the other game.
Costa Rica – 2 (Yeltsin Tejeda, Manuel Neuer OG)
Keylor Navas, 8 – Key to keeping Costa Rica in the game, Navas made several key saves to keep Germany out early in the first half to stop Germany running away with the game.
Oscar Duarte, 6
Kendall Watson, 6
Juan Pablo Vargas, 7
Keysher Fuller, 7 – Caused a lot of issues for the Germany left hand side and forced a big save from Manuel Neuer in the first half.
Celso Borges, 6
Yeltsin Tejeda, 7
Bryan Oviedo, 6
Brandon Aguilera, 5
Joel Campbell: 7 – Was the centre point of Costa Rica’s attack matching the involvement of Jamal Musiala.
Johan Venegas, 6
Germany – 4 (Serge Gnabry, Kai Havertz (2), Niclas Füllkrug)
Manuel Neuer, 7 – Made several key saves for Germany to keep them in the game, but ultimately the defence let him down in what may be his last World Cup.
Joshua Kimmich, 6
Niklas Süle, 5
Antonio Rüdiger, 6
David Raum, 6
Ilkay Gündogan, 4
Leon Goretzka, 5
Serge Gnabry, 7
Jamal Musiala, 8 – Was the key player for Germany throughout this game and was central to everything. Germany’s best player in the tournament by far, but was unable to grab himself a goal.
Leroy Sané, 6
Thomas Müller, 4 – Didn’t really impact the game, both Kai Havertz and Niclas Füllkrug gave a bigger contribution.
GGFN | Jack Meenan
