Germany was eliminated from the World Cup in the group stage on Wednesday, carrying on a modern "curse" that seems to befall the previous tournament's winner.
Since 1998, four teams that won a World Cup title have faltered in the following tournament's first round. France, Italy, and Spain each were eliminated in the first round of the tournament that followed their winning runs. The only team to buck the tradition was 2002 winner Brazil, which advanced past the first round in 2006.
Germany lost to South Korea 2-0 Wednesday in the team’s first ever defeat against an Asian team; it was South Korea’s first shutout since a match against Greece in 2010.
Star Thomas Muller started on the bench for the match, and although Germany improved, the team could not score or prevent South Korea from making two goals at the end of the match, the first of which was ruled offsides before a review awarded the team the goal.
This is only the second time Germany has been eliminated in the first round of the World Cup tournament; the first time was in 1938.
The last time a team made it past the first round after winning the Cup was when a unified Germany made it to the quarter-finals in 1994 after West Germany won in 1990.
German magazine Bild tweeted, “It’s hard to believe, but we’re actually out. Bye, World Cup! That’s not what we imagined.”
It's likely some German players currently considered the best in the world, including Manuel Neuer, Toni Kroos, Muller, Mesut Ozil, Sami Khedira, and Jerome Boateng, will not return for the Cup in 2022 as they age.
Germany's ouster means Mexico will advance to the next stage of the competition despite its loss to Sweden, which also moves on from Group F.
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