World Cup History: 5 Top Teams that were Knocked Out in the Group Stages

#3 Italy (2010)

Italy had no answer to their early exit in 2010

Similar to France, Italy were riding high on a famous success in Germany. They had won their fourth World Cup and looked to build on the victory. A disappointing Euro campaign in 2008 was followed by abject failure in South Africa, as the Italians finished bottom of their World Cup group.

It was not nearly as bad as the French, but it was astonishing nevertheless. The Azzurri had shown the epitome of complacency throughout the entire tournament. They received perhaps the easiest group out of all the top teams, but somehow they still messed it up.

They did have a group of ageing players and most of the key players from 2006 had retired. Goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon got injured in the first game and missed the rest of the tournament while an overall lack of effort sealed their fate.

Italy had to come from behind in both of their opening two games against Paraguay and New Zealand after they lacked any sort of desire to win the games. There was not a proper backbone beyond Daniele De Rossi and Claudio Marchisio. Captain Fabio Cannavaro was also way past his prime.

A 3-2 defeat against Slovakia in their final game ended a miserable World Cup campaign that really should have gone on a lot longer. Italy rebounded by reaching the final of Euro 2012 but have continued to disappoint at World Cups.

They failed to make it out of their group in 2014, although it was a Group of Death. The Azzurri did not even qualify for this year's edition of the grand tournament. It really is a shame, as they have a squad strong enough to do well on this stage.