Japan pulled off yet more World Cup heroics to defeat Spain 2-1 on Thursday night.
Hajime Moriyasu’s men have exceeded all expectations with their heroic performances in Qatar, remarkably securing wins over both the 2010 and 2014 champions to top what many people considered to be the ‘Group of Death’.
Nevertheless, having surprisingly lost their second game to Costa Rica on the back of their famous win over Germany, Japan found themselves fighting an uphill battle when Spain actually took the lead through Alvaro Morata.
As such, it required yet another heroic turnaround in the second-half for Japan to take all three points at the Khalifa International Stadium, pouncing in the 48th and 51st minutes.
Why was Japan’s winning goal controversial?
However, Ao Tanaka’s winning goal on the night has been the subject of great controversy with pretty much the entire footballing world wondering whether or not the ball went out of play in the build-up.
At first, it certainly looked as though Kaoru Mitoma hadn’t got to the ball in time to play it back across goal and towards Tanaka without it having gone out of play along the way.
Video: The controversy surrounding Japan’s winner
In or out !?? Quite clear to me…🤓#FIFAWorldCup #JAP #ESP #GroupE #VAR pic.twitter.com/vPqumbY7VY
— Gaizka Mendieta (@GaizkaMendieta6) December 1, 2022
But just as fans felt certain that VAR would swoop in and confirm that the goal had to be ruled out, the decision came in that the strike would stand and Japan would indeed be going 2-1 up.
That, in turn, sparked a chain reaction that ultimately led to the Blue Samurai topping the group while both Germany and Costa Rica exited the competition.
And practically everyone has been left sweating over various different images and replays of Tanaka’s goal to try and work out for themselves whether all of that should have been allowed to happen in the first place.
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Should Japan’s winner vs Spain have counted?
Well, breathe a sight of relief, ladies and gentlemen, because it looks as though the debate may well have been settled for good courtesy of an exclusive simulation by beIN SPORTS.
The major broadcaster released a graphic akin to goal-line technology in the immediate aftermath of the game showing why exactly Japan’s goal that knocked out Germany was allowed to stand.
And the video clearly shows that the whole of the ball hadn’t passed over the whole of the line, meaning that the goal was indeed legal and that VAR had in fact made the correct decision.
However, don’t just take our word for it, because you can check out beIN SPORTS hopefully putting the conversation to rest with their technology down below:
Video: Simulation settles the Japan vs Spain controversy
Sorry, Germany fans, but it looks as though Japan won fair and square.
Why did Japan’s winner knock out Germany?
And the simulation just goes to show how fine the margins really are in elite football because had Mitoma taken a split-second longer to reach the ball, then everything could have been different.
Besides, Germany would have actually gone through had they still won 4-2 over Costa Rica while Japan were hypothetically held to a draw with Spain by way of Tanaka’s goal being ruled out.
Japan and Germany would have been level on four points apiece, but it would be Hansi Flick’s men who would have gone through courtesy of a superior goal difference.
World Cup quiz: Can you name these 30 ‘streets won’t forget’ players?
As we all know, though, that didn’t prove to be the case with the finest of fine margins proving enough for Japan to upset the applecart and confine Germany to their second consecutive group stage exit from the World Cup.
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