World Cup 2022: It’s Now or Never for Germany

Costa Rica vs Germany

There is a horrific sense of Déjà vu creeping around Germany at the moment as, four years on from crashing out of the 2018 World Cup 2022; the Germans enter their final group match with just a single point on the board.

A late equaliser against Spain has given Hansi Flick’s side a decent chance of progressing in Qatar, but to do that they need to beat Costa Rica. Germany haven’t gone through a World Cup without winning since 1938 and that is not a piece of history they want to repeat. But the football gods have been looking kindly on Germany and the World Cup 2022 betting odds reckon Flick’s men can still reach the business end of the competition.

Our SBOTOP odds of 1.11 on a Germany victory suggest that if Costa Rica come away with a point or more then it would be one of the World Cup 2022 results of the tournament so far, rivalling Saudi Arabia’s stunning win over Argentina. Germany have some good attacking players but are shaky in defence and so this could be a nerve jangling match for one of Europe’s big guns, especially as a win for Costa Rica would see the underdogs through to the knockout phase.  

Talking Points

Fullkrug deserves another shot  

Germany would be pretty much dead and buried had supersub Niclas Fullkrug not smashed home a late leveller against Spain. The 29 year old Werder Bremen striker has 39 goals in 74 games for his club and has scored twice in 75 minutes of international football. Flick has a decent selection of strikers in his squad, led by Thomas Muller. But with Kai Havertz and Timo Werner not in great form there should be space for Fullkrug against Costa Rica.

With supply coming from the versatile Joshua Kimmich and the excellent Jamal Musiala, I wouldn’t bet against Fullkrug adding to his tally. But if the strikers do misfire, Flick will need his centre back pairing of Antonio Rudiger and the error prone Niklas Sule to hold firm.

Costa Rica is full of heart

To recover from a 7-0 drubbing at the hands of Spain and go toe to toe with a talented Japan, winning 1-0, was quite some achievement for Luis Fernando Suarez’ Costa Rica. The head coach was delighted, saying his side had come back from the dead and, if Spain beat Japan in their final game, a draw against Germany would take the Costa Ricans through.

Suarez worried that his team may be psychologically damaged following their battering by Spain but they stood up magnificently to contain Japan and hit them with a sucker punch. His key man is veteran goalkeeper Keylor Navas, who was on top form in front of a back three with two deep lying wingbacks. And when defender Keysher Fuller curled in an 81^st minute winner against Japan it was all the more impressive as the Blue Samurais would have progressed with a victory after their opening day win against Germany. Costa Rica conceded the possession and lost the shot counts by 13 to four and three to one on target, but the only stat that mattered to Suarez and his team was the 1-0 victory!

The Costa Rica fans celebrated wildly but they will make even more noise if they can somehow match Germany. They will be without centre back Francisco Calvo who picked up a second booking against Japan and the Germans will try to exploit that loss. But while they will play most of the game in their own half, Costa Rica will try to exploit the pace of former Arsenal youngster Joel Campbell up front.  

History

Germany are four times World Champions, the last occasion in 2018, while Costa Rica are at their sixth tournament and reached the quarter finals in 2014. These two teams have met just once before, in the 2006 World Cup, when Germany came out on top with a 4-2 victory.

In terms of recent form the Costa Ricans are in better shape with four wins, a draw and a defeat from the last six games, while Germany have won two, drawn two and lost two.   

Betting Tip

The draw is at 9.25 and a Costa Rica is at 17.50 if you fancy yet another shock at this World Cup and Suarez’ team has a big incentive, with all the pressure sitting on the shoulders of the Germany players. But I think Flick’s men will come good just in time; and 3-0 at odds of 5.80 is the most likely score line. Of course, they need the Spain vs Japan result to go the right way too, but should La Roja win then Germany’s destiny is in their own hands.   

 

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