 | Joe Brophy Nov 29 |
Germany's World Cup hopes are hanging by a thread ahead of their do or die final Group E match against Costa Rica. Die Mannschaft - champions in 2014 - meekly surrendered their title in Russia and have had a miserable tournament so far in Qatar.  Germany will need results to go their own way to qualify for the knockout rounds Germany were staring down the barrel following their shock 2-1 defeat to Japan, but they fought back to secure a 1-1 draw with Spain. Hansi Flick's side are still bottom of the group and need a favour from La Roja if they are to pull off a great escape and reach the last-16. Costa Rica v Germany: talkSPORT coverage This World Cup Group E clash will take place on Thursday, December 1. The match at the Al Bayt Stadium will kick-off at 7pm. The action will be live on talkSPORT, with Natalie Sawyer as your presenter. Commentary will then come from Joe Shennan and former England Women's striker Lianne Sanderson.  Germany are facing a second successive World Cup group stage exit Costa Rica v Germany: Permutations Costa Rica will progress to the last 16 if their result against Germany is better than Japan's against Spain. Should Japan beat Spain, Los Ticos would progress with a victory over the four-time world champions. Germany are the only team that are unable to win Group E and need to beat Costa Rica and hope Spain also beat Japan. They'll also go through if they beat the Central American outfit by two or more goals and Japan fail to beat Spain.  Germany will be relieved to stand a fighting chance going into the last match of the group stage Costa Rica v Germany: Squads and team news Costa Rica - Goalkeepers: Keylor Navas, Esteban Alvarado, Patrick Sequeira
- Defenders: Francisco Calvo, Juan Pablo Vargas, Kendall Waston, Oscar Duarte, Daniel Chacon, Keysher Fuller, Carlos Martínez, Bryan Oviedo, Ronald Matarrita
- Midfielders: Yeltsin Tejeda, Celso Borges, Youstin Salas, Roan Wilson, Gerson Torres, Douglas Lopez, Jewison Bennette, Alvaro Zamora, Anthony Hernandez, Brandon Aguilera, Bryan Ruiz
- Forwards: Joel Campbell, Anthony Contreras, Johan Venegas
Germany - Goalkeepers: Manuel Neuer, Marc-Andre ter Stegen, Kevin Trapp
- Defenders: Armel Bella-Kotchap, Matthias Ginter, Christian Gunter, Thilo Kehrer, Lukas Klostermann, David Raum, Antonio Rudiger, Nico Schlotterbeck, Niklas Sule
- Midfielders: Julian Brandt, Niclas Fullkrug, Leon Goretzka, Mario Gotze, Ilkay Gundogan, Jonas Hofmann, Joshua Kimmich, Jamal Musiala
- Forwards: Karim Adeyemi, Serge Gnabry, Kai Havertz, Youssoufa Moukoko, Thomas Muller, Leroy Sane
 Costa Rica are also hopeful of being able to progress Costa Rica v Germany: Match facts - Last time out, Keysher Fuller scored from Costa Rica's very first shot on target at this World Cup, after more than 184 minutes of football played (including added time). Fuller could become the fourth Costa Rica player to score more than once at a single World Cup edition after Bryan Ruiz in 2014, Paulo Wanchope in 2006 and Ronald Gómez in 2002.
- At 19 years and 274 days versus Spain, Jamal Musiala became the youngest player to register an assist for Germany in a World Cup game (since 1966), surpassing Thomas Müller's previous record against Australia in 2010 (20y 273d). No German has created more goalscoring chances at World Cup 2022 than Musiala (5 – level with David Raum).
- Thomas Müller has failed to score in each of his last six World Cup appearances, having scored 10 goals in his first 12 games in the competition and has yet to attempt a single shot at the 2022 edition.
- Costa Rica have scored fewer goals (1), attempted fewer shots (4), registered fewer shots on target (1) and have the lowest expected goals total (0.11) of all teams in group E at the 2022 World Cup.
- Hans-Dieter Flick (D1 L1) is the second manager to fail to win his first two World Cup games in charge of Germany, after Josef Herberger. No Germany manager has failed to win his first three World Cup games.
- Germany had 35.9% possession against Spain on matchday two, their lowest ever share in a World Cup game since 1966, breaking their previous record (39%), set in 1986 against Morocco. Indeed, Germany have failed to win their first two group stage matches at a single World Cup for the first time in their history.
- Following their 1-0 win against Japan on matchday two, Costa Rica could win consecutive World Cup matches for only the second time (in 2014 vs Uruguay and Italy), while they've only recorded consecutive clean sheets in the competition on one previous occasion (in 2014 vs Italy and England).
- Costa Rica have won just one of their last 11 FIFA World Cup games against European nations (D5 L5), recording a 1-0 win over Italy in the 2014 edition. Indeed, six of Costa Rica's World Cup 2022 squad featured in the win against Italy (Celso Borges, Bryan Ruiz, Joel Campbell, Keylor Navas, Yeltsin Tejeda, Óscar Duarte).
- Germany have won six of their eight FIFA World Cup matches against CONCACAF nations (D1 L1), though their only defeat in this run was in their last such match against Mexico in 2018.
- This is the second ever meeting between Germany and Costa Rica, with the Germans winning 4-2 in the opening match of the 2006 FIFA World Cup previously.
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