10 Things We Learned From World Cup 2018
5. Will The Curse Ever End?
At four of the last five World Cups, the champions have been eliminated in the group stage. The French, winners in 1998, went out in 2002. Italy, 2006 champions, fell at the first hurdle in 2010. And then Spain, so dominant in 2010, couldn't get out of their group in 2014.
Before this World Cup began, some people suggested that the famous curse could strike again, but it seemed so unlikely. The Germans are always so ruthless, so efficient, and so good at winning. The thought of them going out in the groups seemed preposterous, but that's exactly what happened.
Mexico's Hirving Lozano shocked the world giving the Germans a taste of defeat in their opener and a late rally against Sweden proved to be in vain as the Germans lost their last match against South Korea to go home way earlier than anyone expected.
Perhaps the pressure gets to the players, or maybe their opponents are all extra motivated to claim a result against the champions. Maybe there really is a supernatural element to this so-called curse! Either way, as current world champions, France will need to be very careful in the group stages of the 2022 World Cup to avoid suffering a similar fate.