Japan hold on for historic win to top the group and send Germany home in dramatic fashion

22:01 CET: Well, what an incredible evening! It's hard to believe what just happened, really. 

At halftime, it looked impossible for Japan to come back into this match and save their World Cup but they scored two goals soon after the break and then held on against a dominant Spain.

The big talking point was Japan's second goal, which was initially ruled out and then awarded after a VAR check for mysterious reasons.

The drama was only intensified by the group's other match, where Costa Rica momentarily took the lead over Germany, meaning Spain was about to crash out. 

As it turned out, the Spanish have the Germans to thank as their victory over Costa Rica actually pushed Spain back into the playoff places.

Read our full match report here and check out all the stats below.

97': They've done it! Incredibly, Japan have beaten Spain and put Germany out of the World Cup!

94': Last few minutes here and Japan have poured everything into this defensive effort. If they hang on for the win, they will have earnt it!

91': There will be seven added minutes in the match.

LIVE from Costa Rica - Germany: GOAL! Germany have another. 4-2 there. But the standings stay the same unless Spain score here.

87': Japan make a change - Endo is on for Tanaka. Not much longer left here!

LIVE from Costa Rica - Germany: GOAL! Germany have taken the lead again. It's now 3-2 to the Germans. That lifts Germany above Costa Rica but still behind Spain on goal difference. The Spanish will be thankful for that 7-0 win in their first game, it's keeping them in it.

81': Only 10 minutes of normal time left and Japan are defending with their hearts and souls to maintain their lead, which came out of nowhere, it must be said.  

78': Spain are playing the ball around at will but they can't penetrate the Japanese defence. 80 per cent possession doesn't mean anything if you are losing.

75': Ok back to the action here! It's all very tense. The Spanish have gotten control of the contest again but, can they score? As it stands, Japan and Spain both go through but one suspects there might be a few twists in this tale yet. 

LIVE from Costa Rica - Germany: Don't get comfortable - German have equalised! it's now 2-2. That goal helps the Spanish, it lifts them back above Costa Rica.

LIVE from Costa Rica - Germany: Incredibly, Costa Rica have scored again! 2-1 to the Central Americans over Germany. And now the Germans are really in danger of going out of this tournament in disgrace. The goal lifts Costa Rica above Spain in the live standings.

Spain now need to get back into this match, too, to save themselves. We said it was very unlikely they would go out... but it's happening! 

68': Spain have brought on Ansu Fati in place of Gavi. Jordi Alba comes on for Balde. Japan have also made one change. Tomiyasu comes on for Kamada.

61': Another substitution by Japan. Asano is on in place of Maeda.

60': Quite an incredible turnaround of events in Group E. As it stands, Japan are top, Spain are second, and level on points with Costa Rica, with Germany last. Can you believe it? Japan have gone from zero to heroes here. That must have been some halftime team talk!

LIVE from Costa Rica - Germany: Costa Rica have scored! It's now 1-1 in their game against Germany. That means Germany are now last placed again!

57': Spain have made a double change now as they look to get back in control of this one. Morata and Williams are off, Asencio and Ferran Torres are on.

53': GOAL! Oh my god! The referee has given the goal after reviewing the initial offside ruling. It's not Doan, it was Tanaka who got the ball over the line. What drama here! Japan have brought this back incredibly. Hard to believe.

49': Doan has almost scored again! This time it's ruled out for offside. But hang on, it's being checked!

47': GOAL! JAPAN! It's Doan, he's just come on! What a substitution that is.

Spain were being a bit too relaxed at the back there and the keeper Simon gave it away softly and Doan capitalised with a fierce strike. Simon should probably have saved it, though.

46': And we are back! There have been a few changes at halftime. For Spain, Azpilicueta has been replaced by Carvajal. For Japan, Kubo and Nagatomo have departed for Doan and Mitoma.

First Half

20:49 CET: Well, as you can see by the stats below, only one team has really seen the ball in this match so far. Spain have had over 80 per cent possession. It's quite a staggering figure, really.

Looking on the bright side for Japan - they have only conceded one goal. Germany are only leading Costa Rica by one, as it stands, so Japan only need to snatch one goal to sneak back into second place.

By the looks of them, Japan are happy to keep the game at 1-0 as long as possible and pounce towards the end like they did against Germany.

If Germany start scoring more in their match, however, Japan will need to go for the win.

47': That will be halftime here. Stay tuned for all the stats.

46': Spain mount one last attack of the half. Williams fizzes a cross past the goal and it goes for a corner.

46': Only one minute added on here.

45': Yoshida goes into the book as well for Japan. That's one of the problems when you can't the ball, you might end up making a few rash challenges.

44': Another yellow for Japan. Taniguchi this time.

39': First yellow card of the match goes to Japan's Itakura for a late tackle on Busquets.

36': A bit more joy for Japan as Kamada dances through into the box and shoots. But his effort is blocked.

30': You can see via our momentum graphic below just how dominant Spain have been in the first half hour of the match. Japan have hardly had a sniff of the ball. It's still only 1-0 but it's hard to see how Japan will score at this rate.

22': If Japan get one goal back, they would go ahead of Germany in the live standings based on their head-to-head record. Check out the Live Standings here throughout the match to stay on top of it.

20': Spain doing what Spain do better than anyone else and that's: keeping the ball. This is a huge weapon of theirs once they gain the lead in matches. It's so hard for Japan to get it off them, let alone score. Spain have had 85 per cent of possession so far.

14': So, two goals in the games already. Spain's 1-0 lead and Germany's 1-0 lead means that Japan have fallen into third in the group as things stand. Japan must get a goal back! 

12': GOAL! Spain open the scoring! It's Alvaro Morata. He's just had a chance that he headed straight at the keeper, not this time though. He heads a cross low and the keeper is beaten.

LIVE from Costa Rica - Germany: There has been a goal already in the group's other match. Germany have gone ahead early. 1-0 there. 

9': Morata with a chance too but it's a weak header at the keeper.

8': First big chance falls to Japan. The Japan forwards caught Busquets being rarely sloppy and pounced on the ball, creating a chance but the shot was just wide of the goal.

4': A lot of Spain possession in the opening stages here. Japan have set up with a back five tonight. Expect them to sit deep, let Spain have a lot of ball and try to catch them on the break with their trio of nippy forwards.

1': Spain take the kick-off. Here we go!

Pre Match

19:56 CET: The teams are out for the anthems. Tonight's match at the Khalifa International Stadium will be officiated by V. Gomes of South Africa. Japan will play in blue and white, Spain will play in all red.

19:52 CET: Welcome to our live updates for the Group F clash between Spain and Japan. It promises to be an intriguing evening as there are many possibilities regarding who progresses out of this group. Spain are in a pretty strong position to go through. They have to lose tonight and Costa Rica would need to beat Germany or Germany would have to beat Costa Rica by eight goals in order to cause them to drop into third place. It's hard to see that happening. Japan need to win to keep their hopes alive.

Team News

Spain coach Luis Enrique makes five changes for his team's final Group E match, bringing in defenders Cesar Azpilicueta, Pau Torres and Alejandro Balde.

Strikers Nico Williams and Alvaro Morata also got the nod while captain Sergio Busquets, who is a yellow card away from a suspension, remained among the starters at the Khalifa International Stadium.

Japan coach Hajime Moriyasu, seeking a win against the 2010 world champions to be sure of a last-16 spot, also makes five changes from the side beaten 1-0 by Costa Rica.

In defence, Shogo Taniguchi comes in for Miki Yamane, Japan's third right back in three games at the tournament after Hiroki Sakai was injured in the 2-1 win over Germany. Ao Tanaka is brought in as a holding midfielder.

TEAMS:

Japan: Shuichi Gonda, Shogo Taniguchi, Ko Itakura, Yuto Nagatomo, Takefusa Kubo, Hidemasa Morita, Junya Ito, Daichi Kamada, Ao Tanaka, Maya Yoshida, Daizen Maeda

Spain: Unai Simon, Cesar Azpilicueta, Pau Torres, Sergio Busquets, Alvaro Morata, Gavi, Nico Williams, Alejandro Balde, Rodri, Dani Olmo, Pedri

See how the teams shape up here.

Introduction

As it stands going into the match, Spain is on top of the group standings with four points, Japan and Costa Rica have three each, and Germany is last with one point.

Both Spain and Japan know that a win in this game would make their progression to the round of 16 certain. A draw could suit both sides as well, but Japan would need Costa Rica and German to draw in that case. Japan cannot lose the match.

Japan shocked the tournament with their opening win over Germany but then fell to an equally shocking defeat to Costa Rice. Which Samarai Blue side will we see tonight?

Spain, meanwhile, absolutely demolished Costa Rica in their opening match (7-0) and followed that up with a hard-fought draw with Germany. They will be setting their sights on topping the group with a win and going into the next phase with some winning momentum.

Follow all the action from the match with our live updates or our audio commentary, which you can find here.