Germany bowed out of the World Cup at the group stage for the first time since 1938 after South Korea’s 2-0 win over Die Mannschaft saw Joachim Low’s side lose in front of a stunned crowd of 41,835 in Kazan. It was also the fourth time in the last five World Cups that the defending champions had failed to progress to the knockout stages (France in 2002, Italy in 2010 and Spain in 2014 before them)
Low made five changes to the side that had beaten Sweden- two were enforced ones with Mats Hummels coming for the suspended Jerome Boateng and Sami Khedira returning in place of the injured Sebastian Rudy. The other three were tactical, with Thomas Muller, Julian Draxler and Antonio Rudiger dropping to the bench and Leon Goretzka, Mesut Ozil and Nicklas Sule coming in respectively. That effectively meant a 4-2-3-1 formation from Low, with Goretzka on the right.
All four teams in Group F were in with a chance to go through at the beginning of the day. Mexico were in pole position, having won both their initial games. Both Sweden and South Korea needed to win and hope that other results went their way. Germany had their fate in their own hands- win and they were effectively through, although there could’ve been a tie with the Swedes on goal difference.
Manuel Neuer, who had raced against time in order to be fit for this World Cup, nearly gifted the Koreans the lead when he fumbled a free kick from Jung Woo-Young in the 19th minute, but the Bayern star recovered to fist the ball away before Heung-Min Son could pounce.
Both the games in the group were 0-0 at half time, but with news coming in that Sweden were beating Mexico, Germany needed to win to progress and Low sent on Muller and Gomez in search of goals. The goals did come, but not to Die Mannschaft, but to Korea, who netted twice in second half stoppage time to stun the defending champions. One, from Kim Young-gwon, was initially not given, but VAR confirmed it was a legitimate effort, and the other from Son, came after Neuer was caught in possession on the left wing.
The Germans were pre-tournament favourites in the eyes of many bookmakers, such as Betway88 and for good reason- they were the defending champions, they had won the Confederations Cup last year, they had coasted through in qualifying (10/10, 43 goals scored and 4 conceded), and had a reputation of being Turniermannschaft- a team that gets progressively better as the tournament goes on. Before Russia 2018, they had also made it to eight straight semifinals at all major tournaments since 2005.
They had their chances- Werner, Hummels and Goretzka all went close. Ozil created seven opportunities- more than any other player had done in a single game this World Cup, but none were converted. However this German team failed to display the steel that previous German outfits in the last decade had shown, and one could say Low relied more on the old guard that had won him the tournament in 2014 but weren’t the same force four years down the line. Players like Leroy Sane, who could’ve made a difference, were left home, and the whole controversy with Ozil and Gundogan before the tournament, didn’t help matters.
South Korea 2-0 Germany (Kim Young-gwon 90+2, Heung Min Son 90+6′)
Attendance:-41,835 (Kazan)
Germany’s starting XI:- Neuer, Kimmich, Hector, Sule, Hummels, Khedira, Kroos, Goretzka, Ozil, Reus, Werner