World Cup 2018: 5 Major Takeaways from the Group Stage

#2 The Champions' curse continues

Germany crashed out of the World Cup in the group stage for the 1st time in the history!

Defending FIFA World Cup champions from Europe that have been knocked out in the group stages:

France exit in the group stage (2002)

After winning the World Cup in 1998, the French crashed out in the 2002 World Cup as they failed to score a single goal and finished bottom of the group

Italy exit in the group stage (2010)

Yet again, the winners of the 2006 World Cup left the tournament at the end of the group stage as the Italians finished bottom of the group that comprised of Paraguay, Slovakia and NewZeland.

Spain exit in the group stage (2014)

Back-to-back defeats to Netherlands and Chile meant that the Spanish were on their way home after just two games. By now it seemed like some curse to win the World Cup.

Germany exit in the group stage (2018)

Surely the Germans couldn't crash out of a group comprising of Sweden, Mexico and South Korea. But not only did they kiss goodbye to their chance of retaining the trophy, but also finished at the bottom of the group.

But not all Champions packed their bags in the group stage prior to winning it. Brazil (2006) are the only reigning World Cup champions in the 21st century not to be knocked out in the group stages. They reached the quarter-finals in 2006. Vamos Brasil!