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          2022 World Cup stats: Japan's incredible 17.7%; Germany's nightmare 10

          PHILIP FONG/AFP via Getty Images
          • Sunaadh Sagar
          Dec 2, 2022, 09:15 AM

          Day 12 of the 2022 FIFA World Cup saw it's share of upsets as Group E and Group F came to their conclusions. Morocco finished top of Group E with a 2-1 win over Canada, while Romelu Lukaku had a nightmare in front of goal as Belgium drew Croatia 0-0 to crash out of the competition. Germany joined Belgium in leaving Qatar as their 4-2 comeback victory over Costa Rica went in vain, given Japan pulled off a smash-and-grab to defeat Spain 2-1.

          By The Numbers has the best stats from the four World Cup matches played on Thursday:

          Canada 1-2 Morocco

          2

          Morocco joined Senegal in the Round of 16, tying 2014 as the FIFA World Cup (Nigeria and Algeria) with the most African teams in the knockout stage (2). Ghana and Cameroon are still in contention to advance.

          1

          Youssef En-Nesyri is the first Moroccan player to score a goal in two different World Cup campaigns (2018 and 2022).

          6

          Canada have lost all six of their matches at the World Cup - the joint-worst 100% losing record in the competition along with El Salvador.

          1

          Morocco are the first African team to top their World Cup group since Nigeria in 1998. This was also only the second-ever time they made it to the knockout stage since first doing so in 1986.

          Croatia 0-0 Belgium

          1.67

          Lukaku came on as a halftime substitute. His 1.67 xG was the third most in any half by a player in a World Cup Game since 1966. Additionally, 17 players with at least 1.15 xG in a half in a World Cup match since 1966 scored at least 1 goal in the half.

          3

          Belgium ended a streak of 3 straight World Cup appearances reaching the knockout stage. This is the team's first elimination in the Group Stage since 1998.

          0-0

          Croatia are 11th team with multiple 0-0 draws in group stage; 10 of those 11 teams advanced (the sole exception was 1982 Cameroon).

          Costa Rica 2-4 Germany

          2

          Alvaro Morata became the second player to score in his first three FIFA World Cup appearances for Spain, after Telmo Zarra in 1950.

          3

          Costa Rica have scored more goals (3) than they've had corners (1) in the World Cup

          Japan 2-1 Spain

          2

          This is quite the stat. Since detailed World Cup records began (1966), there are only two instances of a team losing a game despite attempting 700+ passes: Spain vs Japan on Thursday and Germany vs Japan last week.

          3

          Only three teams have won two different games at a single edition of the World Cup when losing at half-time: Brazil in 1938, Germany in 1970 and Japan in 2022.

          9

          Alvaro Morata is Spain's Mr. Reliable. They have scored nine goals at the World Cup and European Championships since 2016, more than twice as many as any other Spain player in this period.

          17.7%

          With 17.7% of the ball, Japan won a World Cup game with the lowest possession figure in recorded WC history.

          (Stats courtesy: ESPN Stats and Information Group)