Japan beats Spain as both advance; Germany, Belgium out

DOHA, QATAR » Same stadium. Same result. Similar shocking victory for Japan at the World Cup.

After beating Germany in the team’s opener, Japan worked its way into the round of 16 of the World Cup on Thursday by defeating Spain 2-1 — the same score as last week.

Spain also advanced despite the loss, knocking Germany out of the tournament.

Japan scored twice early in the second half to come from behind and defeat another European powerhouse and make it to the knockout stage for the second straight World Cup. It’s the first time Japan has advanced past the group stage in back-to-back tournaments.

“For Asia and for Japan, our victories over Spain and Germany, two of the top teams in the world, is something that give us great confidence and we are very pleased,” Japan coach Hajime Moriyasu said.

Ao Tanaka scored the winning goal from close range early in the second half. It took about two minutes for video review officials to confirm the ball hadn’t gone out of bounds.

Players from both teams looked surprised when it was announced that the goal counted, and the Japanese started running toward their bench again to celebrate with their teammates.

GERMANY 4, COSTA RICA 2 » Germany was eliminated from the group stage of the World Cup for the second tournament in a row.

The four-time champions beat Costa Rica but it wasn’t enough to advance

Germany needed help from the other match in order to advance with a victory, but things didn’t go its way. If Spain had beaten Japan, the Germans would have finished second in the group.

The match was also notable because French referee Stéphanie Frappart became the first women to officiate a men’s World Cup match.

CROATIA 0, BELGIUM 0 » Croatia advanced to the last 16 after a draw against Belgium, whose group-stage exit will likely usher in the breakup of its talented but underachieving generation of players.

Belgium was eliminated after scoring one goal in three games and failed to live up to its status as the second-ranked team and one of the tournament favorites.

What has long been called Belgium’s “Golden Generation” — now featuring six players with more than 100 appearances — is set to split up with a World Cup semifinal appearance in 2018 as its peak.

MOROCCO 2, CANADA 1 » Morocco advanced to the last 16 at the World Cup for just the second time after clinging on for a win over Canada.

The Moroccans’ only other trip past the group stage came in 1986.