World Cup 2022 Group E guide: Spain’s young midfield stars and watch out for Germany’s triangles

What should we expect from Spain? Where is Japan’s weakness? Are Germany playing differently under Hansi Flick?

The 2022 World Cup is nearly upon us and The Athletic is running in-depth tactical group guides so you will know what to expect from every nation competing in Qatar over the coming month.

Liam Tharme is looking at all 32 teams’ playing style, strengths, weaknesses and key players, highlighting things to keep an eye on during the tournament.

Expect to see screengrabs analysing tactical moments in games, embedded videos of key aspects to watch and the occasional podcast clip and data visualisation to highlight patterns and trends — think of yourself as a national team head coach and this is a mini opposition dossier for you to read pre-match.

In Group E, we have two of the last three World Cup winners, Spain (2010) and Germany (2014). They are joined by 2014 quarter-finalists Costa Rica and Japan, who have reached their seventh consecutive World Cup but are yet to go beyond the last 16 stage.

You can read Group A, Group B, Group C, Group D and Group F here. Groups G and H will be published later this week…

Japan

• Manager: Hajime Moriyasu (since August 2018)
• Captain: Maya Yoshida
• Qualifying record: P10 W7 D1 L2 GF12 GA4
• 2018 World Cup: Round of 16
• Average age of squad: 27.7
• Most caps in squad: Yuto Nagatomo (137)
• Top scorer in squad: Takumi Minamino (17)

How they play (tactics and formations)

Japan played a 4-2-3-1 at the previous World Cup in 2018 and are expected to be systematically similar in this one.

However, the personnel will be different.

Head coach Akira Nishimo has been replaced with Moriyasu and Japan’s five midfielders will all be different to the starting XI in Russia four years ago. Striker Yuya Osako started three of their four games at World Cup 2018 but won’t lead the line in their opening game against Germany on November 23. At 32, he hasn’t made the squad.

The 4-2-3-1 was not a staple of Japan in qualifying, with Moriyasu consistently lining them up in a 4-3-3, but switching shape in the September friendlies created room for an additional forward — the wingers and No 10 role are their strongest positions, particularly in terms of depth.

“We used (Wataru) Endo, (Hidemasa) Morita and (Daichi) Kamada in the 4-2-3-1 system to see how we could bring out the best of each individual player,” said Moriyasu after they beat USMNT 2-0 in September.

Junya Ito (on the right) and Takefusa Kubo (left) flanked Kamada, who played just off No 9 Daizen Maeda. Japan could feasibly replace the forward trio with Kaoru Mitoma, Takumi Minamino and Ritsu Doan respectively without compromising quality.

Japan's forwards

Player	Position	Caps	Goals	Assists
Takefusa Kubo	Winger/No 10	20	1	0
Kaoru Mitoma	Winger	10	6	2
Takumi Minamino	Winger/No 10	43	17	8
Daichi Kamada	No 10	22	7	3
Junya Ito	Winger	39	9	9
Ritsu Doan	Winger	29	3	4

In qualifying, Japan had a lot of possession — a 60 per cent average, which was the third-most of the five qualified Asian teams — but did little build-up close to their own goal. Instead, they looked to play forward quickly and have organised possession in the opposition half, where they could create chances through wide combinations between full-backs, wingers and the roaming No 10.

The graphic below shows the pass network for that recent victory over USMNT. Brighter circles indicate higher touches for players, who are located based on the average place of their touches, with brighter arrows reflecting higher volumes of passes between players.

There are subtle differences between the two approaches.

Playing narrow centre-backs Takehiro Tomiyasu (No 16) and Maya Yoshida (No 22) against USMNT allowed full-backs Yuta Nakayama (No 20) and Hiroki Sakai (No 19) to push beyond the opposition wingers.

“They (the wingers) also contributed to the team’s victory with their dedication in defence,” Moriyasu said after that win.

Pressing out of a 4-4-2 shape, with Kamada slotting alongside Maeda and the wingers dropping into the midfield line, Japan kept forcing errors. The pitch, at German second-division club Fortuna Dusseldorf’s home stadium, was not in fantastic condition but that alone does not result in 21 high turnovers.

A vertically compact shape no more than 26 yards in length, Japan used a simple pressing scheme.

Against a USMNT side who religiously play 4-3-3, Japan’s two central midfielders marked their opposite numbers, with the No 10 dropping onto the midfielder at the base of the triangle when the No 9 went to press — or vice-versa if the No 10 led the press.

This allowed the wingers to tightly mark the full-backs and prevent simple wide passes, baiting dangerous passes into midfield (solid red arrow) which the wingers could intercept (dashed red arrow)…

… and launch a quick attack against a disorganised defence.

What’s their weakness?

Goalscoring.

Saudi Arabia (also 12, including opposition own-goals) were the only Asian qualifiers to score as few as Japan. Moriyasu’s side considerably underperformed their expected goals (xG), by over six, having created the highest volume of scoring chances among Asian teams in the third and final group phase.

In the absence of Osako, there is limited depth at No 9. Celtic duo Maeda and Kyogo Furuhashi have four goals in 25 caps combined. Shuto Machino, 24, is scoring in the J-League but is internationally raw. Ayase Ueda has not scored in his 10 caps.

Japan have never scored frequently at a World Cup — their six goals in four matches at Russia 2018 was their most ever in the tournament.

Key player(s)

Minamino has the most appearances (41), goals (17) and assists (10) across Moriyasu’s 57 games in charge. The 4-2-3-1 shape suits his style — he can play anywhere in the three — but he has had limited minutes since moving to Monaco in the summer after an unfulfilling spell at Liverpool.

Moriyasu tellingly picked Kamada over him as the No 10 for that September friendly against the Americans.

Ito had the most assists (seven), chances created (33) and expected assists (5.13) of any Asian in qualifying. His creative trademark was delivering crosses from the right wing, often following a dribble past or run in behind an opposition full-back.

He scored in four straight final-round qualifying games, joint-top scorer in that decisive part of qualification — and three of these were one-touch finishes, attacking the back post to score off crosses from the left wing.

One thing to watch out for

Mitoma as an impact substitute. Moriyasu will have the opportunity to make five changes in each game in Qatar but the electric acceleration and directness of the right-footed left-winger has repeatedly unlocked well-structured defences.

The Brighton forward assisted Ito on his debut against Oman and sealed Japan’s World Cup place when he scored two quick, late goals away to Australia in March, despite only coming on in the 84th minute.

#FlashbackFriday to when @kaoru_mitoma sealed 🇯🇵 Japan's #Qatar2022 spot in Stadium Australia, Sydney! #HBD #AsianQualifiers pic.twitter.com/uEuaUXmRyG

— #AsianCup2023 (@afcasiancup) May 20, 2022

Spain

• Manager: Luis Enrique
• Captain: Sergio Busquets
• Qualifying record: P8 W6 D1 L1 GF15 GA5
• 2018 World Cup: Round of 16
• Average age of squad: 27
• Most caps in squad: Sergio Busquets (139)
• Top scorer in squad: Alvaro Morata (27)

How they play (tactics and formations)

The limited time windows for coaches to work with players normally mean philosophy and tactical identity are less obvious at national team level — that is not the case with Spain.

Luis Enrique, who took over as coach after the 2018 World Cup, has developed arguably the best team in the world between both boxes. It is a different story in the penalty areas, but we will cover that in the ‘What’s their weakness?’ section…

It feels stereotypical to label Spain as a high-possession, 4-3-3 side, but those are the cornerstones of Luis Enrique’s plan. As per FBref data, Spain have not had below 60 per cent possession in a competitive game since a 1-1 draw at Germany in March 2020 — when they had… 59 per cent.

It might always be a front three but there are tactical variations and tweaks in big games. Alvaro Morata, an out-and-out No 9, is the primary option. His 28 caps under Luis Enrique are second only to Ferran Torres (30), who normally partners him in the forward line. But Spain have played a false nine twice recently against Italy. It was Dani Olmo in the European Championship semi-finals in June last year and Torres at the same stage of the Nations League four months later. Marco Asensio was used in the same way in their Nations League game at home to Switzerland in September.

Spain are the epitome of attacking patience, almost always building out from the back and trying to control games through long passing sequences. The midfield triangle is point-down, with one player, normally Sergio Busquets, receiving from the centre-backs. Spain are at their most threatening when they can play into forward-running central midfielders and earlier into their wingers, who can beat opponents one-v-one or unlock the opposition defence.

At last year’s Euros, they had the highest possession average (72.7 per cent) and the most open-play sequences of 10-plus passes (176) — 20 per cent of these ended with a shot or touch in the opposition box, evidence of their consistent ability to pass their way upfield.

An often overlooked aspect of their play is their quality without the ball. Spain are set with good spacing to jump on opponents when they lose the ball, and they averaged the second-most counter-pressures per game at Euro 2020.

Passes per defensive action (PPDA) shows Spain were the most intense team when defending at that same tpurnament and they started their sequences further from their own goal than any side.

Spain's superb defending

Metric	Spain at Euro 2020	Tournament rank
PPDA	8.1	1st
Sequence start distance (metres)	47.3	1st
Final third pressures	247	3rd
Final third tackles	18	2nd
Press success %	36.4	1st

This was down to how they press — Luis Enrique is always barking orders and gesturing when the opposition goalkeeper has the ball, micromanaging positioning to set traps and block passing lanes to key players.

Spain set up to stop their opponents progressing the ball centrally, with central midfielders staying touch-tight to their opposition counterparts.

We see this here at home against Switzerland as they play out. The front three slide left so the No 9 and right winger mirror the centre-backs and Spain go three-v-three centrally…

Left winger Pablo Sarabia presses full-back Silvan Widmer, whose forward passing options are blocked. Widmer miscontrols the ball to concede a throw in the final third — a forced error.

What’s their weakness?

Scoring goals.

This sounds strange for the country that, last summer, became the first team in European Championship history to score five or more goals in consecutive matches as they beat Slovakia and, after extra time, Croatia. But they won just once in the regulation 90 minutes in their six outings at those finals and only scored once in the first two group games.

Spain underperformed their xG by 5.3, close to double the next most wasteful finishers — they even missed twice from the penalty spot. They also had just 15 non-penalty goals in qualifying for this World Cup, the joint-lowest of any European side to make it to Qatar.

Opponents naturally sit back against Spain’s high-possession approach, which forces them to attack down the sides and attempt crosses more.

Morata is their best aerial threat but even he is not exceptionally good at scoring headers — collectively, they had 23 shots from crosses at that most recent European Championship and 19 of those were headed.

Spain are often crossing into a packed penalty area, which means players have to try to finish amid contact with and pressure from defenders.

Key player(s)

Pedri and Gavi, the next generation of Spain’s midfield. This teenage pair play in front of Busquets, who is almost as old as the two of them combined.

They provide energy, dynamism, technique and pausa. Luis Enrique has described Gavi as “not just a player that runs, fights and always delivers elite defensive performances”, but a “classic attacking midfielder who can play between the lines. He can score, too”.

GO DEEPER

World Cup state of play: Pedri and Gavi drive Spain on, goals needed, Luis Enrique's loyalty

Pedri was voted the young player of the tournament at last year’s Euros. He completed all 55 passes in the regulation 90 minutes against eventual champions Italy in a semi-final that went to penalties and FBref have him as Spain’s top player for passes made under pressure (70), passes and dribbles into the final third (68 and 29) and shot-creating actions (27).

One thing to watch out for

Penalty shootouts.

Historical tournament performances offer little predictive power, but Spain showed at the Euros last summer that their goalscoring issues increase the likelihood of their knockout-phase ties going to extra time and beyond — they eliminated Switzerland in a quarter-final shootout but lost the same way to Italy in the semis.

Spain have contested seven penalty shootouts at World Cups and European Championships since the turn of the millennium, winning four and losing three.

Spain's penalty shoot-outs

Tournament	Round	Opposition	Result
Euro 2020	Semi-finals	Italy	5-3 loss
Euro 2020	Quarter-finals	Switzerland	4-2 win
World Cup 2018	Round of 16	Russia	5-4 loss
Euro 2012	Semi-finals	Portugal	4-2 win
Euro 2008	Quarter-finals	Italy	4-2 win
World Cup 2002	Quarter-finals	South Korea	5-3 loss
World Cup 2002	Round of 16	Republic of Ireland	4-3 win

Costa Rica

• Manager: Luis Fernando Suarez (since June 2021)
• Captain: Keylor Navas
• Qualifying record: P15 W8 D4 L3 GF14 GA8 (qualified through playoffs)
• 2018 World Cup: Group stages
• Average age of squad: 27.2
• Most caps in squad: Celso Borges (151)
• Top scorer in squad: Bryan Ruiz (29)

How they play (tactics and formations)

They were the final side to qualify for Qatar, beating New Zealand in an inter-confederation play-off in June. That win exemplified their playing style under Suarez; Costa Rica scored through Joel Campbell after three minutes and then controlled the game without having the ball. They had just one-third of possession that night but only conceded one more shot on target than the number they managed themselves (four versus three).

Costa Rica winning a game with a strong defensive base and Campbell scoring may evoke memories of the 2014 World Cup in Brazil, where they emerged from a group including Italy and England, then beat Greece on penalties to reach a quarter-final they lost to the Netherlands in a shootout after a goalless draw.

The core of that side are still going: goalkeeper Keylor Navas, left-back Bryan Oviedo, centre-back Oscar Duarte, central midfielder Celso Borges and Campbell played in Brazil eight years ago and started that play-off against New Zealand. Bryan Ruiz is in the 26 for Qatar, too.

Using data from qualification games in their CONCACAF region, covering North and Central America and the Caribbean, we are able to measure team style.

Remember, the bigger the slice, the more they outperform other teams in that metric.

Looking at the graphic below, Costa Rica very clearly profile as a strong defensive, low-block and counter-attack side.

They do not give up high-quality chances (0.09 xG per shot conceded) and spend most of their time defending in their own half, which is reflected by low scores for possession (ranked eight of eight), field tilt (the share of final third passes a team plays in the match, ranked eight of eight) and PPDA (ranked seven of eight).

When they do have possession, they regularly look to launch attacks and play forward with a degree of directness, shown in those high rankings for long passes share and attack speed, which measures how quickly a team progress the ball forward in metres per second.

Their out-of-possession shape is almost always a 4-4-2 and they defend mostly in the midfield third of the pitch, rather than sinking too deep towards their own penalty area. Only when the opposition had goal kicks would they push high, but their pressing looked more reactive than proactive.

The grabs below show their mid-block shape in games against New Zealand (that June play-off), South Korea (a September friendly), Canada and USMNT (both qualifiers). They kept clean sheets in three of those games, only conceding to South Korea — one of the two goals against them that day was a Son Heung-min free kick.

Both goals they scored in that 2-2 away draw came from direct attacks after possession regains further up the pitch.

For the first goal, Daniel Chacon intercepts in the defensive third, then lays the ball off for Francisco Calvo to launch towards Campbell.

For the second, it’s Campbell who breaks shape from the mid-block to intercept a pass…

… and drive forward, four-v-three.

Costa Rica are naturally a fluid attacking side because of the proportion of their chances that are made in transition.

Suarez’s defence-first approach massively suits tournament football and in qualifying, Costa Rica proved their ability to shut out opponents in succession. They won six of their last seven games in CONCACAF’s third and final group phase, conceding just twice.

What’s their weakness?

Scoring goals.

Their defensive strength means Costa Rica can regularly win games by scoring just once or twice, but they lack the systematic and individual quality to create chances worthy of more goals than that. They finished level on points with USMNT in that final round of qualifying and missed out on automatic qualification for Qatar because of goal difference, having scored eight goals fewer than the Americans.

Only once under Suarez have they scored more than twice in a game — in his first game in charge against Guadeloupe in July 2021.

And only against USMNT, in the final game of group qualifying, did they win a game by more than the odd goal (2-0) and their 13 goals in those final seven fixtures were the fewest of any CONCACAF side to qualify.

Key player(s)

Navas is undoubtedly Costa Rica’s top player and arguably the best in CONCACAF, too. And he has World Cup pedigree.

He was their No 1 in 2014 and at Russia 2018, keeping three clean sheets and conceding only seven times in eight games.

Navas has played zero club minutes for Paris Saint-Germain this season but was objectively the best shot-stopper in CONCACAF in qualifying.

The graphic below shows all his shots on target faced, with expected goals data measuring that his saves prevented around five more additional goals than what the average goalkeeper would be expected to keep out — he had more clean sheets (seven) than goals conceded (six including one penalty).

One thing to watch out for

Jewison Bennette.

Just 10 years old when Costa Rica made the last eight in Brazil, Bennette, who joined Sunderland of the Championship in August, provides dynamism, technique and goals.

GO DEEPER

Jewison Bennette's journey from South America to Qatar - via Cleadon

The winger has appeared seven times and assisted in key wins against USMNT (third-round qualifying) and New Zealand. Sunderland head coach Tony Mowbray has described him as “fast and direct, and is of those players that gets people out of their seats”.

Bennette scored his first international goals in that September draw at South Korea, twice appearing at the far post to tap in crosses.

Germany

• Manager: Hansi Flick (since August 2021)
• Captain: Manuel Neuer
• Qualifying record: P10 W9 D0 L1 GF36 GA4
• 2018 World Cup: Group stages
• Average age of squad: 27.5
• Most caps in squad: Thomas Muller (118)
• Top scorer in squad: Thomas Muller (44)

How they play (tactics and formations)

The Germany we see in Qatar is likely to look noticeably different to the team that were eliminated by England in the round of 16 at last year’s European Championship.

Toni Kroos has retired, Mats Hummels is no longer involved and, more importantly, Joachim Low has been replaced by Flick. Low’s 15-year, World Cup-winning tenure ended with that loss to England and over the past 18 months Flick has looked to change the shape and tactics.

Analysing the formations, the switch has been from a 3-4-2-1 to a 4-2-3-1, which offers an extra attacker in the forward unit and has made Germany look stylistically more like Bayern Munich, who Flick managed before taking the national-team job. That is a good thing, with Germany the first team to qualify for this World Cup.

GO DEEPER

Bayern-fuelled Germany look much more impressive under Flick

They lack one-v-one specialists but Germany are stacked with creative attacking midfielders who can operate between the lines and combine to create chances — think zone 14, for those familiar with the concept. (For those not, the area just outside the penalty box.)

Triangles and one-touch passes between wide players (full-back and/or winger) and the forwards (No 9 and/or No 10) are when these guys are at their most devastating.

This was shown in the build-up for Kai Havertz’s late equaliser against England at Wembley in September’s Nations League game…

… and against the Netherlands in a friendly back in March.

These combinations are intended to create cutback scenarios or angles to shoot from around the edge of the penalty area, with multiple players crashing into the box when the former happens.

Thomas Muller is not the intended target here but scores from Jamal Musiala’s cutback.

Joshua Kimmich scored a very similar goal against Italy in June, but via a cutback from the right.

He starts the move with a pass to Timo Werner between the lines (white arrow), who quickly plays forward — and overhits — a pass to Havertz.

Kimmich and Ilkay Gundogan are highlighted because they are Flick’s double-pivot pairing of choice in midfield and provide high-quality ball retention, press resistance and line-breaking ability. They are regularly positioned close together, centrally, looking to dictate the play and instigate attacks.

Jonas Hoffman’s cutback is towards Werner but once again Germany have numbers in the box, which maximises their chances of picking up any rebound…

… which Kimmich does, and scores.

Across their six Nations League games this calendar year, their lowest possession total was 59 per cent away to England — they tend to build forward quickly but like organised, controlled possession in the opposition half.

Germany's attack in WCQ

Metric	Germany in WCQ	UEFA Rank
10+ pass sequences	275	1st
Build-up attacks	77	1st
Build-up goals	5	2nd
Open-play goals	28	1st
Open play xG	24.9	2nd

Wednesday, November 23: Germany vs Japan, Khalifa International Stadium (8am ET/1pm GMT)
Wednesday, November 23: Spain vs Costa Rica, Al Thumama Stadium (11am ET/4pm GMT)
Sunday, November 27: Japan vs Costa Rica, Ahmad Bin Ali Stadium (5am ET/10am GMT)
Sunday, November 27: Spain vs Germany, Al Bayt Stadium (2pm ET/7pm GMT)
Thursday, December 1: Japan vs Spain, Khalifa International Stadium (2pm ET/7pm GMT)
Thursday, December 1: Costa Rica vs Germany, Al Bayt Stadium (2pm ET/7pm GMT)