Japan sets a new World Cup record and advances to the top 16 took everyone by surprise
It’s common to be shocked once on the World Cup field, but these few days, reversal scenes have become a daily routine! Japan shines brilliantly in this World Cup in Qatar. First, they successfully battled Germany with a 2-1 comeback in the first group match and then staged a shocking counterattack against Spain again. Without being favored by all walks of life, they defeated two traditional football power teams successively, and once again advanced to the top 16 as the first place in the group after 20 years.
Before the official start of this game, all 4 teams have the chance to advance. It can be said that the teams have hope, but they are not really sure what is ahead of them. Looking back at this game, Spain had nearly 80% of the possession rate in the first half and relied on Alvaro Morata to break the net in the 12th minute, taking a 1-point lead into the second half. But in the second half, Japan once again staged a big surprise. Ritsu Dōan and Ao Tanaka broke the net twice in 5 minutes, replicating the miracle of the reversal against Germany, and finally gained the victory 2-1.
After Japan’s victory, Japan broke into the top 16 of the World Cup for the fourth time, and at the same time wrote a number of new records. This included for the first time in 52 years, a single team overcoming a first-half deficit to reverse the game, and the first Asian team entering the top 16 twice in a row. Not only that, Japan’s victory came with the lowest ball possession rate in the history of the World Cup.