Morocco and Japan will undoubtedly remember this day when they managed to eliminate and qualify to the round of 16 instead of Germany and Belgium respectively in groups E and F of the World Cup being played in Qatar.

Belgium said goodbye to Qatar 2022 with an insufficient draw against Croatia.

It was a goalless draw against the runner-up of the World Cup. The Belgians, semifinalists at Russia 2018, number 2 in the FIFA ranking and with a squad loaded with stars, were left in the first round of the World Cup.

Belgium, third in Russia 2018 and number 2 in the FIFA ranking, said goodbye to the Qatar 2022 World Cup on Thursday with a goalless draw against the current runner-up, Croatia, in a direct duel for the qualification to the round of 16, valid for the third and final matchday of Group F.

The Balkan team advanced to the second round, behind Morocco, and will play the winner of Group E (Spain, Japan or Costa Rica) next Monday at 12 o'clock at the Al Janoub stadium.

The match was played in front of 43,984 spectators at the Ahmad bin Ali stadium, where Argentina and Australia will play next Saturday for a ticket to the quarterfinals.

Morocco won the zone with 7 points, Croatia finished second with 5 and Belgium finished third with 4, condemned by their defeat to the Maghreb team in the second matchday.

The "Red Devils", erratic in their finishing, failed to advance beyond the first round of a World Cup for the fifth time in 14 appearances, as they had done in 1930, 1954, 1970 and 1998.

In honor of the quality of their players, Croatia and Belgium offered a pleasant match that lacked goals, but did have some elaborate plays with accurate passing as raw material and also some risky arrivals in both goals.

Despite having two results available to them for qualification - draw and win - the Croatians ruled out any possibility of speculation and took less than a minute to give Thibaut Courtois the first glimpse.

Ivan Perisic had a quick burst down the left side of the box, dominated the ball and struck a dry finish near the left post.

Croatia, organized around the cerebral Luka Modric, kept unchanged its 4-3-3 tactical arrangement with attack-minded fullbacks to combine with Kramaric, Livaja and Perisic.

Belgium, on the other hand, was a bit more versatile with Dries Mertens, at times delayed to combine with Kevin De Bruyne, their most exquisite player. The two were the protagonists of the most risky play in the first half: the Manchester City player drove more than 30 meters, delivered a pool pass on the run and left Mertens in a clear scoring position, who adjusted his body to define the far post and lifted his shot over the crossbar.

In the "Red Devils" also showed good gravitation the Atletico Madrid player Yannick Carrasco, unbalanced on the left flank but also protagonist of an action that ended in a penalty for Croatia for a foul on Kramaric, finally annulled with the technology for advanced position of the Balkan at the beginning of the play.

With the clock ticking down, Belgium played its first offensive card in reserve at the start of the second half: Romelu Lukaku, who after three minutes headed into the hands of Livakovic very close to the goal line.

Not to be intimidated, Croatia responded immediately with a shot from Kovacic that Courtois cleared with his left hand and then with two more from Brozovic and Modric that made the Real Madrid goalkeeper roll over.

The match, witnessed by FIFA president Gianni Infantino, was going like a concert of control, one touch and pass to the foot in all sectors of the pitch. The only thing missing was a goal as a reward for the concept and good intentions of the game.

And it almost came after 15 minutes for Belgium when Lukaku hit the post in a play that began with another exceptional cross pass from De Bruyne.

The Inter midfielder confirmed his poor form in the second half by missing at least four clear-cut chances inside the box, which would have meant continuity in the World Cup.

Spain's Martinez exhausted all his options to try to break the Croatian goal, something that came very close to happening towards the end of the match. However, the low efficiency filled the Belgians with frustration, especially Lukaku, who left the field with a bang on the substitutes' bench, taking responsibility for the missed chances.

 Japan defeated Spain and qualified first in Group E to reach the Round of 16.

The Japanese team reversed the match with the Europeans, won 2-1 and surprisingly won the "Group of Death", the only one made up of two world champions.

Japan reversed their match with Spain, winning 2-1 at the Khalifa International Stadium in Doha and surprisingly won the Group E, which has been declared the "Group of Death" in Qatar 2022, the only one made up of two world champions.

Under the constant encouragement of their enthusiastic fans and to the rhythm of the chants of the Argentine fans, the Asian team assimilated the quick blow suffered by Alvaro Morata's goal (11m.PT) and won in the second half with goals by Ritsu Doan and Ana Tanaka, after 3 and 5 minutes.

Japan defeated the two giants of the zone and advanced to the round of 16 as Group E winner, and will face the runner-up Croatia (F2), next Monday at 12:00 noon in Al Janoub.

Spain, on the other hand, qualified in second place, avoided the Balkan team led by Luka Modric and will face the other big surprise of the initial phase, Morocco, on Tuesday at the Education City stadium, also at noon in Argentina.

Germany, the four-time world champions, were the big losers on the Qatari night because their 4-2 win over Costa Rica was not enough for them to advance to the next round and they suffered their second consecutive exit in the opening phase.

Spain's defeat, which was the result of a mixed performance, raised suspicions about their intention to avoid the match against Croatia in order to face a lower-ranked opponent like Morocco, who for the second time made it to the last 16 of a FIFA World Cup.

Spain controlled the game in the first half and played it with the peace of mind that came from taking the lead in one of their first attacks. César Azpilicueta dominated a ball from in front of the box, lying on his full-back, and set up Morata between the center-backs for an accurate header.

Japan's plan to defend with a line of five defenders and four midfielders to cover the routes to Gonda's goal was short-lived.

However, they did not change their game plan and looked for an equalizer on the counterattack, knowing that Germany had provisionally beaten Costa Rica in Al Bayt, which marked their elimination.

With oriental patience, they waited for the moment to unleash their men in search of a goal, which could have come from a typical risky maneuver by Unai Simon with his feet inches away from the goal. "Aaahhh!" the entire stadium exclaimed in a foretaste of what was to come later.

Spain held an overwhelming 78 percent possession in the first half but generated little in relation to that. The team worked in the passing and passing areas, but not in the final meters.

Japanese coach Hajime Moriyasu made two offensive changes to come out for the second half and the results were immediate courtesy of Spain. In a false start, Simon played a lobbed ball to left back Alejandro Balde, who lost it under pressure and Doan, who had just come on, scored with a powerful left-footed shot.

The surprise was greater five minutes later, in a flurry attack, which left Tanaka in the goalmouth to secure the second goal. The play was reviewed by the VAR for a possible outrage on the back line, but in the end the advantage was validated.

Spain was thus exposed to a World Cup exit in case of another goal from Costa Rica, which had already drawn 1-1 in the other group match. Luis Enrique renewed the offense with Ferrán Torres, Marcos Asencio and Ansu Fati.

With Japan once again in the back four, the European team showed a lot of ball management without finding space to finish each play. The Japanese became more and more tenacious in marking and quick to attack the backs.

For three minutes Spain was out of the World Cup until Kai Havertz equalized again for the Germans, who were finally on their way to victory for the tranquility of "La Roja".

Until the end, the Japanese team defended with great concentration and celebrated their victory in the group that, so far, repeats their best performances in 2002 (they were organizers together with South Korea), 2010 (South Africa) and 2018 (Russia).

Germany beats Costa Rica but is out of the World Cup.

The four-time world champion is eliminated in the first round for the second consecutive World Cup despite defeating Costa Rica.

Second World Cup failure in a row for a powerhouse like Germany. Although the German team defeated Costa Rica 4-2 on Thursday in a great match, it was not enough and they were eliminated from Qatar 2022 in the group stage, just as they were at Russia 2018, when they arrived as defending champions.

After the surprising loss in the opening match against Japan and the agonizing draw against Spain, the Teutons were obliged to win at the end of Group E, known as "death", and also hope that the Iberians did not lose against the Asians to reach the second place in the group. However, although they got the job done, they were not helped by the Spaniards, who succumbed to the Asians and said goodbye to the world finals on goal difference.

For its part, the Central American team was qualifying at times with a 2-1 partial victory, but ended up out and could not achieve the same feat as in Brazil 2014, when it qualified in a group against champions such as Italy, England and Uruguay.

It was a historic day, as French referee Stéphanie Frappart became the first woman to referee a match in a men's World Cup, with a good performance.

The Mannschaft came out with everything and warned quickly, at 2′, with a shot from outside the area, but goalkeeper Keylor Navas reacted well to send it to the corner. But in the 9′ minute came the opening goal, when David Raum broke down the left and crossed for Serge Gnabry to connect with an accurate header at the far post.

After the goal, the Europeans continued with their absolute dominance, attacking with speed on the wings and the "Ticos" could not get out of their zone and were a similar team to the one beaten by Spain in the debut, only that the Teutons did not have the Spanish forcefulness and thanks to goalkeeper Navas. The CONCACAF side almost equalized through Keisher Fuller after a double mistake in the rival defense, but Manuel Neuer, who broke the record for the most goalkeepers in World Cups (19), sent the ball to the corner.

The second half was all drama. The "Ticos" came out with a different disposition and achieved the parity at 58' with a brilliant counterattack, when Yeltsin Tejeda capitalized on a rebound given by Neuer after a header by Kendall Waston, while at 70' they took the lead when Neuer made a bad save on a set piece and after a series of tangles Juan Pablo Vargas sent the ball into the back of the net. With that, Costa Rica advanced.

But at 73′, Kai Havertz, who had recently joined the team, equalized with a shot over Navas, and at 85′, the Chelsea player scored again with a shot from the air. Meanwhile, after several minutes and a VAR review, the referee validated a Fullkrug goal that had originally been disallowed for an overtaking position.

In the end, Germany got a victory that did not help them, as they woke up too late in this World Cup and it was not enough to avoid a hard early elimination in a zone E where the surprising Japan, who will face Croatia in the round of 16, and Spain, who will play in a promising match against the historic Morocco, winner of Group F, advanced.

 Morocco defeated Canada, came out on top and qualified for the round of 16.

The African team won 2-1 and finished top of Group F, ahead of Croatia. Thus, for the second time in their history, they made it past the first round.

Morocco defeated Canada 2-1 on Thursday and qualified for the round of 16 as the winner of Group F of the Qatar World Cup, in which Croatia also advanced to the second round.

Morocco's goals were scored by Hakim Ziyech and Youssef En-Nesyri, at 4 and 23 minutes, while for Canada Naif Aguerd scored against his own goal, at 40 minutes, all in the first half.

The match was played at the Al Thumana stadium in Doha, with Brazilian referee Raphael Claus.

Only once Morocco had made it to the round of 16 of a World Cup: in Mexico 86, won by Argentina.

This time, the Moroccans got off to a quick start. After four minutes, a poor start by the Canadians, which included a serious mistake by goalkeeper Milan Borjan, allowed Hakim Ziyech to open the scoring with an exquisite mid-range shot over the position of the Canadian "one".

After the goal, the Moroccans took over the midfield, suffocated their opponent with a constant pressure from midfield forward and always looked for the opposite goal.

Canada, on the other hand, felt the blow of the early goal, found it hard to recover and settle on the field and resorted to counter-attacking as their only tool to try to reach Yassine Bono's goal.

The Africans' superiority all over the field gave them the chance to increase the score in the 23rd minute with an accurate shot by Youssef En-Nesyri that was again met with a weak response from goalkeeper Borjan.

The North Americans, seeing themselves outplayed and without tactical answers, tried to stop their rival with fouls and had no game ideas.

However, the team led by coach John Herdman, having nothing to lose because of the adverse result, reversed the situation, gained confidence and scored a goal against Naif Aguerd in the 40th minute to put themselves back in the race before the end of the first half.

In the second half, the Canadians came out with more conviction, improved with the ball and gradually pushed their opponents into their own half with the aim of at least getting an equalizer.

The onslaught of the Americans allowed them to generate some favorable situations, but they lacked the necessary effectiveness to score a goal.

Morocco, on the other hand, gave the ball to their opponents, stopped pressing in the opponent's half, and devoted themselves to defending the result for most of the second half.

The possession of the ball by the Canadians lasted thirty minutes with a lot of deployment and physical wear, which played in favor of the Moroccans who, in view of the tiredness of the Americans, had the ball again and took care of it until the end to get the victory for good.

Source: FIFA.