13 Votes

World Cup: Was there ever a World Champion knocked out in the first round?

Question by Quiesel

Has there ever been a team coming to the football/soccer World Cup as current world champion that was knocked out immediately in the preliminary round (group phase) not reaching the second round at all?

Or was it the first time in 2014 when it happened to Spain? Actually, you should really think that the holder of the title is at least as strong to survive the first round of the competition.

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2Best Answer6 Votes

No. Overall, Germany in 2018 is already the sixth Footbal World Cup Champion that was knocked out in the first round (group phase) so far.

  • Italy 1950
  • Brazil 1966
  • France 2002
  • Italy 2010
  • Spain 2014
  • Germany 2018

As you can see, you should better not rest on your laurels. In particular, this obviously applies if you are reigning world champion: Italy, Spain, France as well as Germany became world champion  and were eliminated at the next World Cup directly in the preliminary round, Italy indeed twice!

Even record world champion Brazil has already hit it. And after the World Cup title in 2014, Germany even flew home twice in a row after the preliminary round: 2018 and 2022.
Last update on 2022-12-21 | Created on 2014-07-03

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