DOHA: Asian giants Japan made a stunning comeback to shock four-time winners Germany 2-1 in their FIFA World Cup Group E match at the Khalifa International Stadium on Wednesday.
The match was watched by 42608 spectators.
With Qatar 2022 just in the opening stages, it is the second major upset after Saudi Arabia stunned Argentina with the same score-line on Tuesday.
Substitutes Ritsu Doan (75th minute) and Takuma Asano (83rd minute) did the job for Samurai Blue after Germany took the lead through an Ilkay Gundogan penalty strike in the 33rd minute.
Hansi Flick’s Germany dominated the match for the most part but Japan saved their best for the last quarter against the Europeans, who also lost their opening game at Russia World Cup four years ago.
Germany, seeking to avoid the fate of 2018 World Cup when they were knocked out of the group stage for the first time history, will now face Spain on Sunday while Japan will take on Costa Rica the same day.
Fawad Hussain | The Peninsula