Germany head into their final Group E World Cup 2022 match against Costa Rica tonight knowing only a win will do - any other result and their elimination from the tournament will be confirmed.
The nation knows only too well about their precarious situation right now, though. At the 2018 World Cup, they needed to beat South Korea in their final group game to progress to the last-16, but what transpired was the Asian nation bagging two goals in injury time to send the World Cup holders home.
Speaking to FourFourTwo - in the latest issue available to order - ahead of the tournament midfield maestro Joshua Kimmich explained the reason Germany got it so wrong was because they were focussing too much on their games after the group stage.
"Our costly mistake four years ago was that we thought too much about what was coming next and forgot to do our jobs in the present," Kimmich explained.
However, the same situation has presented itself, despite a supposed shift in mentality from the Germans.
"We have to change this way of thinking and concentrate only on our opening match against Japan. After that, we’ll see where we are."
Indeed, Germany lost their opening match against Japan 2-1, even after taking the lead in the game. A 1-1 draw with Spain followed, leaving them bottom of Group E and needing to win against Costa Rica, and hope Japan don't beat Spain, to make the last-16.
Kimmich discussed with FFT how disappointing getting knocked out in the 2018 World Cup was, with the Bayern Munich player admitting he found it difficult to get over. Quite simply, he doesn't want to suffer the same fate come the final whistle tonight.
"It was very difficult," Kimmich described about the 2018 exit. "The expectation in Germany is always high because we have a lot of quality, but we haven’t played well in tournaments and it wasn’t just the last World Cup, but the Euros last summer too.
"Dealing with the aftereffects is hard – I found it really tough to get over the last World Cup, thinking about the disappointment we had brought people – but we have a different team now, especially from 2018, and a new coach.
"We have to think again. I don’t have countless opportunities to win a World Cup, and I know this. I don’t want to miss out on that trophy."
