Germany fail yet again at the World Cup
Paddy Morgan investigates why Germany failed to qualify for the knockout stages at both 2018 and 2022 World Cup.
Brazil
Germany won the 2014 World Cup after beating Argentina one nil. Mario Götze was the hero for Germany as he scored the winning goal against Argentina in extra-time. Germany went into the 2018 World Cup as defending champions and were drawn in the group stages against Mexico, South Korea and Sweden. Germany also went into the 2018 World Cup as number one in FIFA rankings after their success in 2014. Germany were under pressure to qualify to the knockout stages of 2018 World Cup after losing their first match against Mexico.
South Korea
A good response by Germany as they won their second group game against Sweden. They needed to win against South Korea in their final group stage game to advance to the last 16. It looked like that Germany vs South Korea was going to end in a draw but that changed as Korea scored two goals in added time. A bad defeat for Germany as they failed to advance to the knockout stages of 2018 World Cup. My opinion is that it’s always difficult to play well in the following World Cup as defending champions.
Fallout
2018 was the first time since the 1938 World Cup that Germany didn’t advance to the knockout stages. Joachim Low confirmed in March 2021 that Russia was his last World Cup as he decided to step down as Germany manager after Euro 2020. Low has been in charge since 2006 and his biggest highlight was when Germany won the 2014 World Cup. My opinion is things got a bit stale and it was the right time for change.
Experience
Five-time Champions League winner Toni Kroos decided to retire from Germany in 2021. Kroos was very influential for Germany as he played 106 times for his country. Kroos scored 17 goals for Germany and 31 is very early to retire with fellow Real Madrid teammate Luka Modric 37 still showing that class is permanent in Qatar. Kroos was remarkable in Real Madrid winning the 2021/2022 Champions League and my opinion is that calling time on his national team was a shock.
Team for Qatar
Hasmi Flick won the 2019/2020 Champions League with Bayern Munich and was appointed Germany manager for 2022 World Cup. Manuel Neuer 36 is still number one for Qatar and 2020/2021 Champions League winner with Chelsea Antonio Rudiger is a leader in defence. Germany midfield for Qatar included 2014 World Cup hero & 63 caps Mario Gotze, 62 caps & four-time Premier League winner with Manchester City Ilkay Gundogan and 70 caps Joshua Kimmich who won the 2019/2020 Champions League with Bayern Munich. The spine of the team is still strong with Rudiger, Gundogan, Kimmich and Neuer.
Forward
Serge Gnabury has pace on the wing and was in good form going into Qatar with scoring eight goals for Bayern Munich in the 2022/2023 Bundesliga. Chelsea forward Kai Havertz is capable in scoring a big goal as he scored the winner in the 2020/2021 Champions League Final. Other players in the forward line for Qatar were two-time Premier League winner with Man City Leroy Sane and 2014 World Cup winner Thomas Muller. Strong forward line for Qatar but they are without former Chelsea striker Timo Werner.
Qatar
Germany were drawn against Spain, Costa Rica and Japan for the group stages in Qatar. They took the lead against Japan but capitulated in the second half to lose by a score line of 2-1. Like Russia, Germany needed to win their second game against Spain. Germany played much better in the second half against Spain and equalised thanks to Niclas Fulikrug on 83 minutes. Germany finished the game strong against Spain but didn’t do enough to win the game. Germany needed to score eight goals and hoped Spain went through as group winners. Germany scored four goals against Costa Rica but went out after Japan got a historic win against Spain.
What’s next
Flick didn’t last long as Germany manager as he left after their failure in Qatar. As mentioned above, my opinion is that Germany still have a strong squad but Muller was forced to play up front in Qatar as they were without Werner. All things come around in different cycle’s and it won’t be long before Germany are contending at either World Cup’s or Euros again.
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