FIFA Women's World Cup 2023: Germany draw against South Korea, gets the World No. 2 earliest exit
— An opening 6-0 win over Morocco makes Germany’s earliest exit ever at the Women’s World Cup even harder to fathom for a No. 2-ranked team the biggest shock loss in a tournament full of surprises.
A 1-1 draw with South Korea in a dramatic end to the group stage Thursday left Germany in third place in Group H behind Colombia and Morocco. In the end, it was Morocco that inflicted the damage with an unexpected win over Colombia in a game being played at the same time but on the other side of the Australian continent.
It was a surprising 2-1 loss to Colombia last Sunday that left Germany in the position of needing to win its group-stage finale to guarantee it advanced to knockout round.
Two-time champion Germany had reached the quarterfinals or better at every previous edition of the global women’s tournament. But when Morocco took a 1-0 lead over Colombia, it was suddenly make or break and a 1-1 draw simply wouldn’t be enough.
As the two-time champion Germany was eliminated on Thursday and the second lowest-ranked team in the tournament, Morocco, advanced to the knockout stage.
Colombia also advanced as Group H winner to round off a slew of upsets in the opening weeks of the competition being held in Australia and New Zealand.
A day earlier, Jamaica eliminated another favorite, Brazil, to advance to the round of 16, while South Africa is also through to the next stage after its stoppage-time winner against Italy.
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