Germany to face Spain, Japan and Costa Rica/New Zealand in Group E

Germany men’s national team will play Spain, Japan and the winner of the play-off between Costa Rica and New Zealand in the group-stage phase of the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar. The draw took place at the Exhibition and Convention Centre in Doha, the capital of Qatar. The World Cup runs from 21st November to 18th December 2022, with the final to take place in Lusail.

Hansi Flick’s side will first face four-time Asia Cup winners Japan on 23rd November before a match against Spain on 27th November -  a match which will see the World Cup champions of 2010 and 2014 face off against one another. Germany’s final group match against either Costa Rica or New Zealand will take place on 1st December, and all kick-off times are to be confirmed at a later date.

The FIFA World Rankings, which were last updated on 31st March 2022, determined in which pot each side was placed. The DFB-Team, who are in 12th place in this list, found themselves in Pot 2, or the second-strongest pot of the four. 1990 World Cup winner and Germany legend Lothar Matthäus was part of the team which oversaw the draw. Rules stated that a maximum of two European countries were allowed to be drawn into the same group – excluding UEFA, teams from the same confederations are not permitted to meet at this stage of the competition.

Head coach Hansi Flick on the draw: “It won’t be easy, but we have set high expectations for ourselves for the tournament. A draw like this doesn’t leave you with any other options. We need to tackle what’s coming up. It’s an interesting, exciting group for us all. Japan are regulars at the tournament. They have many players that play in the Bundesliga, and have a lot of quality in their squad. We wanted to organise a friendly against them, but that will obviously no longer happen. We opened the 2006 World Cup against Costa Rica, and have fond memories of that. Every team has grown and developed, and every team has something special about it. We need to make sure that we make it through.”

Captain Manuel Neuer also offered his thoughts on the draw: “We knew that we would be drawn against a strong team from Pot 1. We have some bad memories of Spain, but we won’t let something like that happen twice. We are confident that we will have a successful World Cup campaign.”

The groups for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar

A: Qatar, Ecuador, Senegal, Netherlands

B: England, Iran, USA, Wales/Scotland/Ukraine

C: Argentina, Saudi Arabia, Mexico, Poland

D: France, UAE/Australia/Peru, Denmark, Tunisia

E: Spain, Costa Rica/New Zealand, Germany, Japan

F: Belgium, Canada, Morocco, Croatia

G: Brazil, Serbia, Switzerland, Cameroon

H: Portugal, Ghana, Uruguay, South Korea

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Germany men’s national team will play Spain, Japan and the winner of the play-off between Costa Rica and New Zealand in the group-stage phase of the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar. The draw took place at the Exhibition and Convention Centre in Doha, the capital of Qatar. The World Cup runs from 21st November to 18th December 2022, with the final to take place in Lusail.

Hansi Flick’s side will first face four-time Asia Cup winners Japan on 23rd November before a match against Spain on 27th November -  a match which will see the World Cup champions of 2010 and 2014 face off against one another. Germany’s final group match against either Costa Rica or New Zealand will take place on 1st December, and all kick-off times are to be confirmed at a later date.

The FIFA World Rankings, which were last updated on 31st March 2022, determined in which pot each side was placed. The DFB-Team, who are in 12th place in this list, found themselves in Pot 2, or the second-strongest pot of the four. 1990 World Cup winner and Germany legend Lothar Matthäus was part of the team which oversaw the draw. Rules stated that a maximum of two European countries were allowed to be drawn into the same group – excluding UEFA, teams from the same confederations are not permitted to meet at this stage of the competition.

Head coach Hansi Flick on the draw: “It won’t be easy, but we have set high expectations for ourselves for the tournament. A draw like this doesn’t leave you with any other options. We need to tackle what’s coming up. It’s an interesting, exciting group for us all. Japan are regulars at the tournament. They have many players that play in the Bundesliga, and have a lot of quality in their squad. We wanted to organise a friendly against them, but that will obviously no longer happen. We opened the 2006 World Cup against Costa Rica, and have fond memories of that. Every team has grown and developed, and every team has something special about it. We need to make sure that we make it through.”

Captain Manuel Neuer also offered his thoughts on the draw: “We knew that we would be drawn against a strong team from Pot 1. We have some bad memories of Spain, but we won’t let something like that happen twice. We are confident that we will have a successful World Cup campaign.”

The groups for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar

A: Qatar, Ecuador, Senegal, Netherlands

B: England, Iran, USA, Wales/Scotland/Ukraine

C: Argentina, Saudi Arabia, Mexico, Poland

D: France, UAE/Australia/Peru, Denmark, Tunisia

E: Spain, Costa Rica/New Zealand, Germany, Japan

F: Belgium, Canada, Morocco, Croatia

G: Brazil, Serbia, Switzerland, Cameroon

H: Portugal, Ghana, Uruguay, South Korea