The first rounds of the 2022 World Cup are nearly over, with the round-robin group stages about to finish on Friday. The remaining top-two teams in each group will be moving on to the knockout stages, in win-or-go-home games next.
But before we look ahead, we have to look back. Because there are some surprises when it comes to certain national teams who failed to be top-two in their groups.
It’s bound to happen, right? After all, the World Cup has the best of the best, and any tournament is never going to be completely chalk.
So let’s run through some of the more surprising teams to miss moving on:
1
Germany
The Germans have won a bunch, most recently in 2014, but this time? Nope.
GERMANY ARE OUT!
This is the second straight World Cup where the German men have failed to advance past the group stage 😳 pic.twitter.com/Ns7pRbb5qm
— ESPN (@espn) December 1, 2022
2
Belgium
The No. 2 ranked team per FIFA lost to Morocco and couldn’t score against Croatia on Thursday. A rough showing for Romelu Lukaku and Co.
Thierry Henry consoled Romelu Lukaku after Belgium were knocked out of the World Cup 💔 pic.twitter.com/DMbxrgGynu
— ESPN UK (@ESPNUK) December 1, 2022
3
Mexico
Mexico had made it past the group stages in seven straight World Cups until this year.
MEXICO ARE OUT OF THE WORLD CUP!
Heartbreaker 💔 pic.twitter.com/SO9Ahn8FyL
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) November 30, 2022
4
Denmark
They’re ranked 10th by FIFA, but losses to Australia and France doomed them, as did a tie with Tunisia.
5
Uruguay
Heartbreak on Friday as South Korea’s late goal eliminated the 14th-ranked team in the world.
