Germany and Belgium’s journey to the 2022 World Cup is over, Morocco in the Super 16 after 36 years.

The journey of two strong European football teams to the FIFA World Cup 2022 has ended and in their place, an Asian and an African team have made it to the Super 16 of the World Cup. Germany failed to enter the Super 16 despite defeating Costa Rica, while Spain entered the Super 16 despite losing to Japan. On the other hand, Morocco topped their group and qualified for the Super 16, but due to a draw between Belgium and Croatia, Belgium was eliminated and Croatia reached the Super 16.

It was a heartbreaking end for football’s European powerhouse Germany as they crashed out of the FIFA World Cup 2022 in the group stage. In the FIFA World Cup held in Russia in 2018, Germany suffered a similar fate and now for the second time in a row, their journey to the World Cup has ended in the group stage. Germany registered a thrilling 4-2 win over Costa Rica in their final group match, but it was not enough for them to progress further, finishing a disappointing third in Group E.

Meanwhile, Japan won their second World Cup triumph when they beat 2010 champions Spain 2-1 to book a place in the last 16 alongside their beaten rivals. In the last 16, Japan will face Croatia while Spain will face Morocco.

Morocco entered the Super 16 stage of the FIFA World Cup 2022 after 36 years after defeating Canada 2-1 in their Group F match on Thursday.

Hakeem Zach (4th minute) and Yusuf Al-Nusri (23rd minute) scored goals for the winning team in the match played at Al-Thumama Stadium. Canada’s only goal was scored by Naif Agaard in the 40th minute.

Morocco, who beat world number two Belgium 2-0, needed a win or a draw to advance to the next round. Morocco have secured a place in the Super 16 with seven points from three matches, while Croatia (five points) are the other team from Group F to reach the next round.

Morocco had a chance to score in the first minute of the match through Hakeem’s cross, but they found their first success three minutes later. Nasiri’s effort was parried by Canadian goalkeeper Milan Borjan, but the ball eluded him and Zech put it into the net to give Morocco the lead. After that, Morocco continued to play aggressively. In the 23rd minute of the match, Nasiri eluded the Canadian defense and found his way into the penalty area with a powerful shot.

Morocco’s Agard scored Canada’s lone goal. The Canadian forwards were advancing with the ball towards the Moroccan goal. Agard tried to block the ball with his foot but it went into the Moroccan goal post.

In the second half, Canadian players made several attempts to score, but could not compete with Moroccan captain and goalkeeper Romain Sass. Morocco maintained their aggressive attitude in the second half as well. Morocco had the ball for 59 percent of the match, giving Canada no chance to control the match.

Morocco has qualified for the next round of the FIFA World Cup for the first time since 1986. Meanwhile, Croatia have made it to the Super 16 after drawing with Belgium in the Group F match. Neither team could score a goal in the match played at Al Rayyan’s Ahmed Bin Ali Stadium, but Croatia qualified for the next round based on more points.