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FIFA World Cup - Group E
JapanJapan0Costa RicaCosta Rica1

World Cup 2022: Japan 0-1 Costa Rica - Keysher Fuller earns shock win

By Matt GaultBBC Sport

Last updated on .From the section World Cup comments 639

Japan failed to take another step towards the World Cup knockout rounds as Keysher Fuller's late goal earned Costa Rica a smash-and-grab Group E victory.

Following their shock win over Germany, Japan were frustrated by a tight defensive unit, before Fuller struck with Costa Rica's first shot on target at the tournament.

The result leaves both teams on three points after two games, with Spain - who still top the group on goal difference - facing Germany later on Sunday (19:00 GMT).

Victory for Spain will all but guarantee their progression to the last 16.

After beating Germany in their opener, many expected Japan to account for a Costa Rica side reeling from a 7-0 thrashing by Spain.

However, Japan boss Hajime Moriyasu opted for rotation over continuity, making five changes, and that resulted in a subdued performance and a scoreline that blew the group wide open.

It was a remarkable victory for Costa Rica, who had failed to lay a glove on the Japan defence before Fuller's deflected shot from the edge of the box escaped goalkeeper Shuichi Gonda's grasp nine minutes from time.

After a first half devoid of goalmouth action in the searing heat at Ahmad Bin Ali Stadium, Japan dominated for large spells. However, they struggled to create clear-cut chances until the 88th minute, when Daichi Kamada could not turn the ball home after a driving Kaoru Mitoma run.

Having achieved redemption following their humiliation at the hands of Spain, the Costa Rica players celebrated emotionally at full-time as Japan were left to rue a disappointing display that failed to back up their heroics against Germany.

Player of the match

MitomaKaoru Mitoma

with an average of 7.49

Japan

  1. Squad number9Player nameMitoma
    Average rating

    7.49

  2. Squad number4Player nameItakura
    Average rating

    6.54

  3. Squad number5Player nameNagatomo
    Average rating

    6.53

  4. Squad number22Player nameYoshida
    Average rating

    6.52

  5. Squad number8Player nameDoan
    Average rating

    6.47

  6. Squad number18Player nameAsano
    Average rating

    6.40

  7. Squad number6Player nameEndo
    Average rating

    6.37

  8. Squad number15Player nameKamada
    Average rating

    6.34

  9. Squad number2Player nameYamane
    Average rating

    6.25

  10. Squad number24Player nameSoma
    Average rating

    6.16

  11. Squad number10Player nameMinamino
    Average rating

    6.11

  12. Squad number21Player nameUeda
    Average rating

    6.02

  13. Squad number13Player nameMorita
    Average rating

    6.02

  14. Squad number14Player nameIto
    Average rating

    5.68

  15. Squad number26Player nameIto
    Average rating

    5.61

  16. Squad number12Player nameGonda
    Average rating

    4.99

Costa Rica

  1. Squad number9Player nameBennette
    Average rating

    6.71

  2. Squad number4Player nameFuller
    Average rating

    6.55

  3. Squad number1Player nameNavas
    Average rating

    6.41

  4. Squad number20Player nameAguilera
    Average rating

    6.10

  5. Squad number17Player nameTejeda
    Average rating

    6.09

  6. Squad number15Player nameCalvo
    Average rating

    6.05

  7. Squad number5Player nameBorges
    Average rating

    5.98

  8. Squad number8Player nameOviedo
    Average rating

    5.96

  9. Squad number12Player nameCampbell
    Average rating

    5.92

  10. Squad number19Player nameWaston
    Average rating

    5.89

  11. Squad number6Player nameDuarte
    Average rating

    5.85

  12. Squad number7Player nameContreras
    Average rating

    5.83

  13. Squad number14Player nameSalas
    Average rating

    5.83

  14. Squad number2Player nameChacón
    Average rating

    5.79

  15. Squad number13Player nameTorres
    Average rating

    5.48

Line-ups

Japan

Formation 4-2-3-1

  • 12Gonda
  • 2YamaneBooked at 44mins Substituted forMitomaat 62'minutes
  • 4ItakuraBooked at 84mins
  • 22Yoshida
  • 5Nagatomo Substituted forItoat 45'minutes
  • 6EndoBooked at 90mins
  • 13Morita
  • 8Doan Substituted forItoat 67'minutes
  • 15Kamada
  • 24Soma Substituted forMinaminoat 82'minutes
  • 21Ueda Substituted forAsanoat 45'minutes

Substitutes

  • 1Kawashima
  • 3Taniguchi
  • 7Shibasaki
  • 9Mitoma
  • 10Minamino
  • 11Kubo
  • 14Ito
  • 16Tomiyasu
  • 17Tanaka
  • 18Asano
  • 19H Sakai
  • 20Machino
  • 23Schmidt
  • 25Maeda
  • 26Ito

Costa Rica

Formation 3-4-2-1

  • 1Navas
  • 6Duarte
  • 19Waston
  • 15CalvoBooked at 70mins
  • 4Fuller
  • 5BorgesBooked at 61mins Substituted forSalasat 89'minutes
  • 17Tejeda
  • 8Oviedo
  • 13Torres Substituted forAguileraat 65'minutes
  • 12Campbell Substituted forChacónat 90+5'minutes
  • 7ContrerasBooked at 41mins Substituted forBennetteat 65'minutes

Substitutes

  • 2Chacón
  • 3Vargas
  • 9Bennette
  • 10Ruiz
  • 11Venegas
  • 14Salas
  • 16Martínez
  • 18Alvarado
  • 20Aguilera
  • 21López
  • 22Matarrita
  • 23Sequeira
  • 24Wilson
  • 25Hernández
  • 26Zamora
Referee:
Michael Oliver
Attendance:
41,479

Match Stats

Home TeamJapanAway TeamCosta Rica
Possession
Home57%
Away43%
Shots
Home13
Away4
Shots on Target
Home3
Away1
Corners
Home5
Away0
Fouls
Home22
Away9

Live Text

  1. Post update

    Match ends, Japan 0, Costa Rica 1.

  2. Full Time

    Second Half ends, Japan 0, Costa Rica 1.

  3. Post update

    Junya Ito (Japan) wins a free kick on the right wing.

  4. Post update

    Foul by Bryan Oviedo (Costa Rica).

  5. Substitution

    Substitution, Costa Rica. Daniel Chacón replaces Joel Campbell.

  6. Post update

    Foul by Kaoru Mitoma (Japan).

  7. Post update

    Keysher Fuller (Costa Rica) wins a free kick in the defensive half.

  8. Booking

    Wataru Endo (Japan) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul.

  9. Post update

    Foul by Wataru Endo (Japan).

  10. Post update

    Yeltsin Tejeda (Costa Rica) wins a free kick in the defensive half.

  11. Substitution

    Substitution, Costa Rica. Youstin Salas replaces Celso Borges.

  12. Post update

    Attempt saved. Daichi Kamada (Japan) right footed shot from the centre of the box is saved in the bottom left corner. Assisted by Takuma Asano.

  13. Booking

    Ko Itakura (Japan) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul.

  14. Post update

    Foul by Ko Itakura (Japan).

  15. Post update

    Jewison Bennette (Costa Rica) wins a free kick on the left wing.

  16. Substitution

    Substitution, Japan. Takumi Minamino replaces Yuki Soma.

  17. Goal!

    Goal! Japan 0, Costa Rica 1. Keysher Fuller (Costa Rica) left footed shot from the centre of the box to the top left corner. Assisted by Yeltsin Tejeda.

  18. Post update

    Offside, Costa Rica. Brandon Aguilera tries a through ball, but Keysher Fuller is caught offside.

  19. Post update

    Corner, Japan. Conceded by Óscar Duarte.

  20. Post update

    Corner, Japan. Conceded by Keysher Fuller.

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Comments

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These comments are now closed.

639 comments

  • Comment posted by Bunwell , at 12:26 27 Nov 2022

    To be honest, I'm more looking forward to The World Diving Championships between Uruguay and Portugal tomorrow .....

    • Reply posted by K-BoredWorrier, at 12:31 27 Nov 2022

      K-BoredWorrier replied:
      🤣🤣🤣

  • Comment posted by pete curry, at 12:23 27 Nov 2022

    AT 70 YEARS OLD I CAN HONESTLY SAY THIS IS THE WORST WORLD CUP IVE EVER WATCHED. AND THESE SO CALLED COMMENTATERS ARE TO SAY THE LEAST ARE AS DIABOLICAL AS IT GETS. THERE AS BAD AS THE FOOTBALL.

  • Comment posted by Babwe , at 12:14 27 Nov 2022

    Game of the tournament so far, both teams really going for the loss.

    • Reply posted by liverpool supporter right here, at 12:34 27 Nov 2022

      liverpool supporter right here replied:
      Any chance of this Fuller geezer being related to Ricardo Fuller, distant cousin perhaps

  • Comment posted by The Lone Gunman, at 12:14 27 Nov 2022

    A lesson for Southgate.

    ATTACK, ATTACK, ATTACK

    Passing the ball sideways gets you nowhere.

    • Reply posted by 1969johnnyb, at 12:20 27 Nov 2022

      1969johnnyb replied:
      Hmmmm- that’s what Japan did and came away with nothing. I think they’ll regret not settling for a point.

      Passing the ball sideways has probably got England into the knock out phase whereas Japan are now at risk.

  • Comment posted by LuThe, at 12:13 27 Nov 2022

    My word that was awful!

    And almost a crime that Costa Rica came away with all 3 points having put in almost no effort in attack. It wasn't even good defending, just poor in the final third by Japan.

    • Reply posted by slayer, at 12:30 27 Nov 2022

      slayer replied:
      Great result for Germany though. All they need to do is play out a dull 0-0 draw against Spain and they are basically through.

  • Comment posted by ian, at 12:17 27 Nov 2022

    Why drastically change a winning side when the game’s not a dead rubber?

    • Reply posted by BalancedView, at 12:50 27 Nov 2022

      BalancedView replied:
      Interesting… after England dull fest many were saying rotate the squad
      Hindsight eh ?

  • Comment posted by Matthew1974, at 12:10 27 Nov 2022

    It wasn’t a shock win. If you had looked at this game before the World Cup, and not based on what happened in the first games, you would have said these sides were fairly evenly matched so a 1-0 win for either would not have been a surprise

    • Reply posted by Jerome, at 13:13 27 Nov 2022

      Jerome replied:
      Right! Japan already thinking about the next match from the start. Gambling odds were ridiculously too far in favour of Japan, I thought Costa Rica could nick it. Japan just flushed its golden ticket, paid for diabolical first half. Only Mitoma made them look like scoring.

  • Comment posted by nightprowler, at 12:08 27 Nov 2022

    Has the standard of football declined? Doesn't seem anywhere near as good as it was in the 80's!

    • Reply posted by HandOfBob, at 12:12 27 Nov 2022

      HandOfBob replied:
      Too many teams at the WC. The cost for inclusion is quality.

  • Comment posted by Chesse, at 12:17 27 Nov 2022

    Lucky, lucky Germany.

    • Reply posted by John Evelyn, at 12:32 27 Nov 2022

      John Evelyn replied:
      Aren’t they always.

  • Comment posted by big nolte, at 12:14 27 Nov 2022

    The guy typing the subtitles must have a nightmare with John hartson

    • Reply posted by K-BoredWorrier, at 12:18 27 Nov 2022

      K-BoredWorrier replied:
      🤣🤣🤣

  • Comment posted by BruisedBanana, at 12:15 27 Nov 2022

    Japan didn't play Tomiyasu and this is what happens... 😭

    • Reply posted by Otm Shank, at 12:26 27 Nov 2022

      Otm Shank replied:
      Japan coasting and thinking a draw would be enough is what cost them. Costa Rica sucker punched them.

  • Comment posted by Toffeeman, at 12:18 27 Nov 2022

    That has got to be down to the Japan manager rotating the team.Get the job done then rotate.He obviously thought it was going to be a stroll.Big mistake.

  • Comment posted by Tapir, at 12:11 27 Nov 2022

    Great to see Costa Rica win after the Spain game; other teams might have just given up.
    I wish they'd stop the subs running on in their stupid bibs though, it's getting annoying!

    • Reply posted by Elvis, at 12:25 27 Nov 2022

      Elvis replied:
      I watch football, not the subs bench. Try it!!!

  • Comment posted by mrmjvc, at 12:03 27 Nov 2022

    Absolutely atrocious from Japan. I thought England had the worst 2nd match performance but Japan just took that title

    • Reply posted by Abanaazer, at 13:02 27 Nov 2022

      Abanaazer replied:
      At least Japan had the excuse of fielding a weakened side, albeit by choice. A kamikaze one as it turned out although they could still progress - as long as Spain put the Germans to the sword tonight.

  • Comment posted by tellitasitis, at 13:02 27 Nov 2022

    the commentary and conversation around the games is ruining it for me, whatever happened to commentators covering the match with facts and not opinions and the odd expert (real experts who have played or coached at the highest level) before the match and at half and full time giving a decent summary. Now its more and more "presenters" (usually female) who give us expert opinions. Absolute rubbish!

    • Reply posted by Hear hear I agree well said, at 15:04 27 Nov 2022

      Hear hear I agree well said replied:
      You should "focus on the football' instead of focusing on that.

  • Comment posted by AJ94, at 12:17 27 Nov 2022

    That was dull.

    • Reply posted by liverpool supporter right here, at 12:28 27 Nov 2022

      liverpool supporter right here replied:
      Thats two hours of my life wasted that i wont be getting back

  • Comment posted by Mr Whiskers, at 12:06 27 Nov 2022

    I watched some of the first half, it was that bad I did the hoovering.

    • Reply posted by Kelso, at 12:33 27 Nov 2022

      Kelso replied:
      Same here I did the electroluxing

  • Comment posted by thelion, at 12:22 27 Nov 2022

    What happened to Japan should have happened to England…. When you play a spineless game trying to secure 1 pt… you deserve to lose!! That just cost you a chance in the last 16 Japan because you’ll lose the next game!!!!

    • Reply posted by Sirrantsalot, at 17:11 27 Nov 2022

      Sirrantsalot replied:
      Not necessarily but they could do with Spain getting a 3-0 win over the Germans. That's quite possible.

  • Comment posted by sickbeggar, at 12:03 27 Nov 2022

    Oh Japan, how could you?! Here come the jammy Germans😱

    • Reply posted by george , at 12:17 27 Nov 2022

      george replied:
      Now when Germany go on to win the tournament, everyone will look back at this game.

  • Comment posted by Just to say, at 12:34 27 Nov 2022

    Seen coverage of every WC from 1966 onwards. Plenty of duff games & uninspiring tournaments. This year at last I can watch as much as I like but it's been dull game after dull game. Not FIFA's fault, not Qatar's fault, not even the fault of the ITV & BBC presenters. It's negativity played out by functional athletes rather than skilled footballers. Change the mindset or make the goals bigger.

As It Stood

A

Team P W D L F A GD Pts
1 Netherlands 2 1 1 0 3 1 2 4
2 Ecuador 2 1 1 0 3 1 2 4
3 Senegal 2 1 0 1 3 3 0 3
4 Qatar 2 0 0 2 1 5 -4 0

B

Team P W D L F A GD Pts
1 England 2 1 1 0 6 2 4 4
2 Iran 2 1 0 1 4 6 -2 3
3 USA 2 0 2 0 1 1 0 2
4 Wales 2 0 1 1 1 3 -2 1

C

Team P W D L F A GD Pts
1 Poland 2 1 1 0 2 0 2 4
2 Argentina 2 1 0 1 3 2 1 3
3 Saudi Arabia 2 1 0 1 2 3 -1 3
4 Mexico 2 0 1 1 0 2 -2 1

D

Team P W D L F A GD Pts
1 France 2 2 0 0 6 2 4 6
2 Australia 2 1 0 1 2 4 -2 3
3 Denmark 2 0 1 1 1 2 -1 1
4 Tunisia 2 0 1 1 0 1 -1 1

E

Team P W D L F A GD Pts
1 Spain 2 1 1 0 8 1 7 4
2 Japan 2 1 0 1 2 2 0 3
3 Costa Rica 2 1 0 1 1 7 -6 3
4 Germany 2 0 1 1 2 3 -1 1

F

Team P W D L F A GD Pts
1 Croatia 2 1 1 0 4 1 3 4
2 Morocco 2 1 1 0 2 0 2 4
3 Belgium 2 1 0 1 1 2 -1 3
4 Canada 2 0 0 2 1 5 -4 0

G

Team P W D L F A GD Pts
1 Brazil 1 1 0 0 2 0 2 3
2 Switzerland 1 1 0 0 1 0 1 3
3 Cameroon 1 0 0 1 0 1 -1 0
4 Serbia 1 0 0 1 0 2 -2 0

H

Team P W D L F A GD Pts
1 Portugal 1 1 0 0 3 2 1 3
2 South Korea 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 1
3 Uruguay 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 1
4 Ghana 1 0 0 1 2 3 -1 0
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