Women's World Cup Day 15: Germany has nobody to blame but itself for early exit

The group stage of the FIFA Women’s World Cup finished up on Day 15, and what a day it was Down Under.

All four teams in Group H began the day still alive in the race to claim the two berths at stake for the knockout round. Who’d have thought that when the smoke cleared one of the tournament favourites would be going home?

THE RESULTS

Group H: South Korea 1, Germany 1 (in Brisbane) — Game stats || Report  

Group H: Morocco 1, Colombia 0 (in Perth) — Game stats || Report

MAIN TALKING POINT

A tournament of upsets, surprises continues

A seismic shift took place at the World Cup on Thursday. Ranked No. 2 in the current FIFA world rankings, Germany was rightly touted amongst the tournament favourites and looked set to go a lengthy run at the competition and possibly even win it for the third time.

No other nation in Group H was ranked in the top 10, with South Korea coming in at No. 17, followed by Colombia at No. 25 and newcomers Morocco, who at No. 72 were the second-lowest ranked team at this World Cup. Most pundits predicted the Germans would cruise into the knockout round.

Instead, the Germans face months of introspection following their shocking first-round exit. A 1-1 draw against the Koreans, coupled with Morocco’s 1-0 win over Colombia, meant Germany failed to get out of the group stage for the first time in nine World Cups. The Germans had managed to at least reach the quarterfinals in each of their previous World Cup appearances.

Bluntly, Germany has nobody to blame but itself. A 6-0 win over the Moroccans in their opening game proved to be a false dawn for the European giants, as the team struggled to break down Colombia in a 2-1 loss and squandered plenty of scoring chances in the stalemate vs. South Korea.

Alexandra Popp levelled the score against the Koreans just before halftime after Germany went down 1-0 inside six minutes. But the German captain was the only player who looked lively in attack for her nation. That burden proved to be too much for Popp, who managed to get into decent scoring positions in the second half but failed to bury any of her chances.

A 2-1 win would have been enough for Germany to edge out Morocco for second place in the group. But the Germans’ profligacy in front of goal cost them dearly.

At the same time, full credit must be given to the Moroccans, who admirably rebounded from their shellacking against the Germans to record back-to-back wins and secure a place in the knockout round in their World Cup debut.

Morocco is just the latest underrated and overlooked nation that has overachieved at this World Cup. Nigeria (No. 40), Jamaica (No. 43) and South Africa (No. 54) all survived tough groups that included top 10 nations to advance to the knockout round.

While they will continue on, traditional heavyweights such as Germany, Canada and Brazil are going home, left wondering where it all went wrong.

GOAL OF THE DAY

In the sixth minute, defender Lee Young-ju took on two players before delivering a through ball that cut open Germany’s defence. Thirty-five-year-old forward Cho So-hyun capitalized by cooly slotting her shot into the bottom left corner past goalkeeper Merle Frohms from 10 yards out.

FANS OF THE DAY

South Korean supporters offered some bold predictions prior to their team’s game against Germany in Brisbane.

QUOTE OF THE DAY

"We didn’t show the football that we wanted to show and, obviously, it's one of the saddest moments of my life, but I think we will grow with that and we will analyze it and then we have to ask ourselves what the matter was and we have to talk about it." — Germany midfielder Lena Oberdorf

THREE STARS OF THE DAY

1. Alexandra Popp, Germany: The 32-year-old forward scored her tournament-leading fourth goal, was a constant attacking threat for the Germans and ran herself ragged. 

2. Cho So-hyun, South Korea: Her goal in the sixth minute marked the first time that South Korea scored for the first time in 13 games across three World Cup appearances. 

3. Anissa Lahmari, Morocco: Her goal late in the first half ended up sending the Atlas Lionesses to the group stage in their World Cup debut.

LOOKING AHEAD

The round-of-16 kicks off on Saturday with a trio of matches. Switzerland takes on Spain in Auckland (1 a.m. ET) in a battle of European rivals. Former World Cup champions Japan and Norway meet in Wellington (4 a.m. ET) and the Netherlands face South Africa in Sydney (10 p.m. ET).