The 32-team FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023 has already stunned the football world during the group stage. After Brazil Women suffered their first WWC group stage exit since the 1999 edition of the tournament, two-time World Cup winners Germany Women were hurt by their worst FIFA Women’s World Cup record after failing to advance to the knockout stage.
FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023: Early scenario before the final round of Group H
The 2003 and 2007 WWC champions, Germany Women had a grand start in the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023 in Australia and New Zealand with a 6-0 win against the World Cup debutant Morocco Women. But at the end of Group H, Morocco Women (six points) advanced to the Round of 16 as the second-best team in the group, behind the group champions Colombia Women (six points), who started this tournament with a 2-0 win against South Korea.
In the second round of the group stage, Germany suffered a defeat against Colombia by 2-1, while Morocco beat South Korea by 1-0.
In such a scenario, the Germany vs South Korea match was a must-win game for the DFB Women, especially in the case of Morocco’s victory against Colombia Women. Meanwhile, South Korea lost their first two matches of the tournament without scoring a goal, so the UEFA side (Germany) was the favourite to reach the next stage, the Round of 16.
FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023: Germany drew with South Korea, while Morocco’s victory against Colombia ended the European side’s hope
However, South Korea stunned Germany with a 1-1 draw result, which gave the same vibe as the men’s FIFA World Cup 2018, where German men were out of the group stage after suffering a shocking defeat in their last group stage game against South Korea.
Coming back to the ongoing WWC, experienced Cho So-hyun brought an early lead for the Asian team (6’) with their first goal of the tournament, while the German skipper Alexandra Popp equalised the scoreline in the 42nd minute.
Despite many attempts, the German side failed to add another goal in the match as it ended with a 1-1 result.
In the other game, Morocco beat Colombia by 1-0 and secured their spot for the next stage of the tournament by kicking out the German side from the top two spots in Group H.
It is the first time in the FIFA Women’s World Cup history that Germany Women are saying goodbye to the tournament from the group stage as they failed to qualify for the knockout stage.
FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023: Group H
Team | Matches | Won | Drawn | Lost | Goal For | Goal Against | Goal Difference | Points |
Colombia Women (Q) | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 2 | +2 | 6 |
Morocco Women (Q) | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 6 | -4 | 6 |
Germany Women | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 8 | 3 | +5 | 4 |
South Korea Women | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 4 | -3 | 1 |
(Q=Qualified for the Round of 16)
