The biggest shock in the history of the Women’s World Cup. That’s what Germany’s group stage exit on Thursday was. The two-time champions had never tasted failure like this, always reaching at least the quarter-finals of the tournament. But after they could only muster up a 1-1 draw against South Korea, and Morocco beat Colombia, the unthinkable happened. They were out.
Only 12 months ago, Martina Voss-Tecklenburg’s side were in the final of the Euros, so close to winning a ninth title on the continent. With a young side that was a year better and a year more experienced, they were one of the biggest favourites to win this World Cup. They were the favourites to win their group, at the very least, sat 15 FIFA world ranking places higher than South Korea, 23 above Colombia and 70 above Morocco.
But an uninspiring performance in Brisbane, which followed a dramatic 2-1 defeat to Colombia, was their downfall. The stunned looks on the faces of Germany’s players at full-time said it all. A handful were reduced to tears but most simply stood there in disbelief, unable to fathom their fate.
How do you go from being the front-runners to win the World Cup to crashing out in the group stages for the first time in history?