World Cup host Germany beat Costa Rica, 4-2, in the first match of the 18th World Cup tournament at Munich stadium on Friday.

German Philipp Lahm, a forward from the Bayern Munich club, scored the first goal in the sixth minute of the game.

Costa Rica's powerful shooter, Paulo Wanchope, equalized the score at 1-1 six minutes after the first goal, stunning the home crowd, who occupied most of the 64,000 seats in the stadium.

However, the German players showed superb ball control throughout the game, dominating ball possession and sunk three more goals into the net while the Costa Rican team could only answer with one more goal.

With the victory, Germany kept the "first match no-loss" tradition for World Cup host countries.