Qatar Data: Morocco produce big upset against Belgium while Germany keep hopes alive
After their opening win over Germany, the Japanese fell to a loss against Costa Rica. The Central Americans only needed one shot on target to win 1-0.
If we look at the flow of the match, we see that in the first half, th game was even. But in the second half, the Japanese absolutely dominated. However, ironically, it was Costa Rica who struck when they were under pressure. They won the match with just two touches in Japan's penalty area - no one has won in this manner since 1966, when the statistics were first recorded.
See Japan vs Costa Rica at Flashscore
When Kevin De Bruyne let it be known that he thought Belgium couldn't win the World Cup title because they had too old a squad, it sounded surprising. But after the 2-0 loss to Morocco, no one can be surprised by his words anymore.
Let’s start with the chart of expected goals. It shows that the Belgians dominated the game until they conceded from a free kick. From that moment on they struggled, they didn't create any more chances and allowed Morocco one more goal.
De Bruyne gave a completely different performance than what Manchester City fans know him for. Take a look at the map of all his passes, where he only had a 75% success rate. Only one of his five crosses came off, and he lost the ball 27 times.
At the last championship in Russia, the Belgians had eight goals after two games. So far this year, just one. Against Morocco, they were very active in front of goal, however, it was not to be their day, especially with close-range shots.
See Belgium vs Morocco at Flashscore
Many suspected that the Croatian game against Canada would be a surprise, and Canada's goal in the second minute suggested that. It was the fastest goal at a World Cup since 2014. But the Croatians turned it around with four goals to send the Canadians home early.
First, let's take a look at Mateo Kovacic's stats. He didn't register among the scorers or assists of the game, but he did well. Five successful tackles, four key passes and a 93% pass success rate. The last time this same combo happened was from Lothar Matthaus at the World Cup was in 1990 against Yugoslavia.
Ivan Perisic can read the post-match statistics with satisfaction. He notched up two assists and if you look at the way the Croatians attacked, you will see that it was Perisic's left side where they were most potent. There lies the key to Croatia's success in the tournament. Perisic himself has already scored nine goals and assisted six more at World Cups and the Euros.
We can also examine the game of Andrej Kramaric in more detail. He scored two goals from point-blank range, but by no means can his impact on the game be limited to this. Instead, his two goals capped off a quality performance.
See Croatia vs Canada at Flashscore
The Germans kept their hopes of advancing alive when they managed to draw level with Spain a few minutes from the end. The goal was scored by Werder Bremen striker Niclas Fullkrug.
Unlike the expected goals from the Belgium game, which completely fell away after the first goal, it woke up the Germans and in the end, they had chances to win the match.
Fullkrug became the first player to score off the bench for Germany at a World Cup since Mario Gotze's winner in the 2014 final.
See Spain vs Germany at Flashscore
So another day of the World Cup is over. We bid you farewell to the Moroccan joy that erupted after their win over Belgium and we look forward to seeing you in our next edition of the data window tomorrow.