How Germany's exit compares to other champions' early World Cup failures

Well, well, well.

Germany, winner of the 2014 World Cup, is out of the 2018 iteration of the tournament at the group stage following a stunning 2-0 defeat to South Korea.

Related: Germany the 3rd straight World Cup champion to be ousted in group stage

In short, the early exit will be a disaster in the minds of many in Germany. Among the records broken, the most notable one is that this marks the first time Die Mannschaft has been eliminated in a World Cup with a group-stage format.

Though calamitous for Germany, this is just the latest step in a perpetuating 21st-century trend of defending world champions suffering ignominiously four years later.

France, 2002

France had won the 1998 World Cup in style on home turf and followed it up with victory at Euro 2000 to assert itself as the dominant footballing nation at the turn of the millennium. Not since Brazil in 1966 had the defending champion failed to get out of its group, and for a golden generation, which included the likes of Zinedine Zidane and Thierry Henry, that should have been unthinkable.

Well, things went off-script right from the start. Stripped of Zidane through injury, Les Blues were stunned by World Cup debutant Senegal in the tournament's opening game. Subsequent fixtures against Uruguay and Denmark provided ample opportunity for recovery, but where there could have been redemption, there was humiliation.

Henry was sent off after 25 minutes against the South Americans as France could manage just a 0-0 draw, and things reached their nadir when, with Zidane finally back in the lineup, a 2-0 defeat to the Danes sealed a calamitous exit. A national inquest was held, Roger Lemerre was sacked, and several members of the side retired in the subsequent months.

Sadness rating: 😢😢😢

Italy, 2010

Italy, triumphant in Germany in 2006, was handed a group as soft as butter four years later in 2010, but managed to bungle proceedings in rather spectacular fashion.

An opening draw with Paraguay was a warning sign explained away by many, but when the same result happened against minnow New Zealand, panic set in for the Azzurri and their fans. But Slovakia, Italy's final opponent, were in even worse form with just a single point from two games. Things would surely be alright.

Robert Vittek had other ideas. The Slovakian striker scored once in the 25th minute and again in the 73rd, and though Italy would net twice in the final 10 minutes, substitute Kamil Kopunek's strike sandwiched between those Italian goals was the final nail in the coffin. "Italian football needs to examine itself because we've hit rock bottom," said Gennaro Gattuso after the game. Little did he know.

Sadness rating: 😢😢😢😢

Spain, 2014

In the years preceding the tournament in Brazil, Spain had pieced together a veritable dynasty, becoming the first European nation to win three major tournaments in a row with glory at Euro 2008 and 2012 on either side of a World Cup triumph in 2010.

Though there were warning signs that things might be coming to an end with an aging team, nobody expected quite a collapse. Spain - and the world - was stunned when the Netherlands romped to a 5-1 win in the opening group game, the biggest margin of defeat for a defending champion in the World Cup.

That thrashing, unsurprisingly, shellshocked the nation. All it took was a limp 2-0 defeat to Chile in the second fixture and Spain was out after two games. It arguably has never been the same since.

Sadness rating: 😢😢😢😢😢

Germany, 2018

It's fair to say Germany was expected to fly through a group which contained three competitive teams but no rival on the same magnitude as Joachim Low's side.

However, within a stable organisation - Low has been in charge for nearly 12 years to the day - there had been signs of trouble building. Outcry over the omission of stars such as Manchester City's Leroy Sane was followed by criticism in the German media over Low's selection choices.

Were it not for Toni Kroos' swerving, dipping effort in injury time against Sweden, this exit would have been more shameful. The German FA stated before the defeat that Low's job was safe regardless of any potential exit, and this makes the reaction to this embarrassment even more important. There will be fury, there will be outrage, but if there's any team capable of bouncing back, it's Germany.

Sadness rating: 😢😢😢😢

TBD, 2022?

The 2018 World Cup has been a riveting tournament thus far and the knockout stage is shaping up nicely while big hitters and impressive underdogs find themselves in the last 16. But whether the eventual winner proves to be a veteran champion or a first-time victor, once the riotous celebrations die down, it must beware the growing trend of great implosions.

(Photos courtesy: Getty Images)