FIFA World Cup
World Cup 2018: Group F Recap, Defending Champs Germany Eliminated, Sweden And Mexico Advance
Germany headed home early from World Cup after falling to South Korea, 2-0. In addition, Sweden demolished the high-flying Mexico 0-3 and have both advance to the next round.
The four-time winners perhaps were hit with the defending champion curse and this is the first time they are eliminated for the first round since 1938. Four of the last five World Cup champions did not advance to the quarterfinals after failing to qualify (France, 2002; Italy, 2010; Spain, 2014; Germany, 2018).
In either case, Germany were headed out with a 0-0 draw that headed to injury time. However, Kim Young-Gwon and Son Heung-Min found the end of the net after Germany pulled all defenders onto the offensive side.
There were a plethora of ups-and-downs in Group F from the start to the beginning of each match. Unfortunately, Joachim Low’s men did not find a way despite dropping Thomas Muller for Mesut Ozil and using a 4-2-3-1 formation. Mats Hummels had a header on goal that bounced over with three minutes away from time.
On the other side, Mexico was believed to have been the better team in Group F and even considered the dark horse. However, Sweden erupted with three goals from Ludwig Augustinsson, an Andreas Granqvist penalty and an own goal from Edson Alvarez. With lots of patience and order from the Swedish, the game was under controlled while Mexico started to desperately look for a goal that would give them hope to still be in the hunt. Despite all this, Mexico was on the brink of elimination with 90 minutes of play in the Germany vs Korea match.
Sweden and Mexico have advance and will meet with the key in Group E.
Team Profiles:
Sweden (2-0-1, 6 points)
- Results: Beat South Korea, 1-0. Lost to Germany, 2-1. Defeated Mexico in a stunning way 3-0.
- Notable: Sweden makes the Round of 16 for the first time since 2006.
- Player to watch: Emil Forsgerg is the new main man for Sweden who replaces star Zlatan Ibrahimovic. The 26-year-old Leipzig midfielder was very close to scoring today against Mexico. Despite this, he will make in impact in next round.
Mexico (2-0-1, 6 points)
- Results: Beat Germany, 1-0. Beat South Korea, 2-1. Lost to Sweden 3-0.
- Notable: Mexico advances to the Round of 16 for the seventh consecutive World Cup. They will be looking to advance to the infamous fifth game.
- Player to watch: Hirving “Chucky” Lozano is the most talented player in Mexico. His smooth style of play is what is stunning people all around the world. He still has more to prove.
