Japan achieved the unthinkable as they overhauled footballing royalty.
They beat mighty Spain to secure their place in the last 16 and topped Group E having already seen off Germany to complete a huge upset at the Khalifa Stadium. It means Japan now face Croatia in the knock-out rounds while Spain were given the fright of their lives as, for three minutes, they were heading out before Germany came back to beat Costa Rica.
Ultimately, Germany’s win was not enough to save themselves but Spain went through by virtue of goal difference and no-one could possibly have imagined Japan would end up as Group winners. No wonder Japan’s players celebrated wildly at the final whistle as their substitutes, bench and coaching staff raced onto the pitch to mob their heroes.
What an incredible story and Japan’s glory must go down as the best, most unlikely and feel good fairytale of the World Cup story so far.
They needed a big slice of luck with a controversial VAR decision because the ball looked miles out when Brighton's Karou Mitoma hooked it back to set up Ao Tanaka’s winner.
But after an agonising wait, Japan were awarded their second goal as they turned the game on its head in the space of 142 seconds at the start of the second half.
They showed so much passion, their fans were loud and screamed the players on and it was a beautiful moment as Spain looked shell-shocked.
Suddenly, Spain - from beating Costa Rica by seven goals in their opener - do not look quite so convincing while Germany are on their way home.
Incredibly, all four teams at one stage were going through as the Group swung this way and that which only added to the drama as the big screen in the stadium kept showing the table as the scores changed on a topsy turvy night.
It was Spain who took the lead when Alvaro Morata put them ahead with a close range header and it looked like he would be the story as he is now his country’s fifth all time top scorer behind David Villa, Raul, Fernando Torres and David Silva.
But that all changed at the start of the second half. Japan boss Hajime Moriyasu made a double half time change - and it paid rich rewards after the restart as both substitutes played a huge part in the turnaround.
The first goal came after 48 minutes after some sloppy Spain defending and substitute Ritsu Doan unleashed a fierce shot which flew into the roof of the net.
Suddenly Japan had all the belief they needed. Doan put over a cross, the ball looked to have gone out before Mitoma pulled it back for Tanaka force it over the line.
TV replays suggested it had gone out of play but VAR ruled the circumference of the ball was still hanging over the white paint. Germany will be arguing about whether the ball crossed the line again for a long time to come.
