Upsets have characterized the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup as another football giant Germany crashed out in the group stage for the first time in their history in the competition.
Germany, ranked 2nd by FIFA started the tournament in stellar form beating Morocco 6-0 in their opening group game. They subsequently suffered a shocking 2-1 defeat to eventual group winners Colombia and needed to win their last group game against Korea to progress to the Round of 16.
In the starting minutes of the match, Germany came into the game guns blazing but were shocked with an early opener from Korea as Cho So-Hyun struck the ball into the net in the 5th minute of the encounter. Germany tried to respond under pressure and were finally able to get an equalizer in the 42nd minute courtesy of a strike from Alexandra Popp-Höppe.
The second half saw Germany’s determination to remain in the competition trying their best to get on the score sheet again, all to no avail. Chances created were not a problem as they enjoyed a 64% possession, with a total of 13 shots, with 7 of those on target as opposed to Korea’s 6 shots with 3 on target.
The irony of Germany’s exit is that Morocco who they defeated convincingly in their opening game joins the list of African teams who will feature in the Round of 16 after they defeated Colombia 1-0 in their last group game.
Colombia tops Group H with 6 points and a goal difference of 2 and are closely followed by Morocco with 6 points and a goal difference of 4. The third position is occupied by Germany with 4 points and Korea are bottom of the group with just 1 point.
Three out of the four African participants in this edition have progressed to the Round of 16; namely Nigeria, South Africa and Morocco.
Germany joins other big names such as Brazil and Italy at the exit door of the tournament.
