Germany head coach Hansi Flick has insisted that the national side only have themselves to blame for their elimination in the group stage of the 2022 World Cup.

DFB-Team put themselves under pressure in Group E when they suffered a 2-1 loss to Japan in their competition opener, but they managed to pick up a point against Spain in their second game.

Germany finished their group-stage campaign with a 4-2 win over Costa Rica on Thursday, but it was not enough to advance to the round of 16, as Japan beat Spain in the section's other match to top the group, with La Roja going through in second position.

Flick was not interested in speaking about other teams after the clash with Costa Rica, claiming that the four-time world champions must only look at themselves as they analyse the failure.

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"I don't care about other teams because it is all up to us. If you look at the matches and the number of goals, it is our fault," Flick told reporters.

"I am convinced we had possibilities and chances in the (last) match against Spain to win, but you have to take those chances and score and then it would have been a different situation for us.

"There are so many reasons (for Germany's exit), but I am not looking to find excuses. We did not have a lot of time to train, but it is not down to that. We fulfilled our duty today and went off the pitch with a victory, but the result could have been better."

Flick was also asked about his own future at the helm, and the 57-year-old said it was too early to look ahead to the team's upcoming Euro 2024 qualification campaign.

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"Honestly, we have just been eliminated, but if you know me and know my team, you know that we can get up quickly and recover from that. That is very important and very decisive for the future," he said.

"In light of the 2024 European Championship, it is difficult to talk about that right after an elimination.

"Now we need to assess our work here at the World Cup, head into a different direction, and this is the next step that we are going to undertake and we will do that very soon."

Germany have now been knocked out in the group stage of the last two World Cups, while they also disappointed at Euro 2020, being eliminated in the round of 16.

Die Mannschaft were behind in the 70th minute of Thursday's clash with Costa Rica but managed to score three times through Kai Havertz (two) and Niclas Fullkrug in the latter stages to finish with a victory.

Written by
Matt Law