Qatar Data: Spain hammer Costa Rica as Japan cause upset
The Croatians stayed true to their traditional shirt and played a game of chess against Morocco that ended in a 0-0 stalemate. it was the third goalless draw of the championship so far and not even Luka Modric, who became the oldest Croatian player ever to play in a World Cup match, could impact the scoring.
But the Real Madrid veteran certainly didn't play the cleanest game of his prolific career. He committed four fouls to his one inaccurate shot, among others, and no other player in the competition has had more fouls so far.
On the other hand, Josko Gvardiol stood out at the back. Gvardiol, who looks like a character from an action movie on the pitch because of his broken nose, completed 103 accurate passes to add to his reliable defensive performance the best on the pitch in Wednesday's early game.
See all the Morocco vs Croatia stats with Flashscore
German coach Hansi Flick spoke glowingly before the game about Japan but he would have been furious after the match, as Die Mannschaft started the tournament with a surprising 2-1 defeat to the Samurai Blue. This was despite the fact that Coach Moriyasu's team only had possession of the ball for just 26% of the game.
The Germans were huge favourites to win the game and had the upper hand in the match, as evidenced by the expected goals graphic. Never before in the history of using this metric has a team with an xG above three lost a game at a World Cup.
Both of Japan's goals were scored by players coming off the bench and both play for Bundesliga clubs. Freiburg midfielder Ritsu Doan equalised before Bochum's Takuma Asano fired in the sensational winner seven minutes from time.
The winger, who has passed through the hands of Arsenal's Arsene Wenger, among others, played just over half an hour, but still became a key figure in the match. More than one bottle of Sake was poured on the win against the German giants in Japan and Takuma Asano will be a national hero after his performance.
See the Germany vs Japan stats with Flashscore
Another giant of European football had a better time on Wednesday. The Spaniards poured on the style against Costa Rica and Luis Enrique's team fired eight shots at Keylor Navas' goal - with seven ending in goals.
Conversely, the Costa Ricans did not produce a single shot over the 90 minutes, repeating their own dismal performance from the 1990 championship. This was total domination as La Roja put in the best performance of any team in the tournament so far.
For the first time in Spanish history, two teenagers - Pedri and Gavi - were in the starting line-up. The latter also became the third youngest goal scorer at the World Cup with his 5-0 goal. Only the legendary Pele and Manuel Rosas were younger than him.
It was a great Spanish victory, as seen by the team statistics. In this match, they set new World Cup records for both the number of passes and total possession of the ball, scoring seven goals in a single match for the first time at a World Cup.
See the Spain vs Costa Rica stats with Flashscore
The match between Belgium and Canada was a great watch for the neutrals, as the Spaniards' offensive feast were followed by an evening course where a single goal decided the winner. Belgium's Michy Batshuayi made sure of it at the end of the first half.
The attacking play of Canada was frustrated by the Belgians, who at first did not look dangerous going forward. But then came a long, accurate pass from Toby Alderweireld and Batshuayi of Fenerbahce was clinical in front of goal.
It is not only thanks to the Japanese's surprise win over Germany that the World Cup in Qatar is in full swing and we will be monitoring every step for you. You know the schedule by now, Qatar Data will be here again tomorrow for more World Cup action.
