Only done twice - once by Brazil in 1958 and 1962 and once by Italy in 1934 and 1938. A lot of people are picking Germany to do this again this summer by winning back to back World Cups.
Recently Henry Bushnell of Yahoo Sports stated he felt Mexico could beat Germany in their group. Initially I scoffed at this but the more I looked into the track record of World Cup winners in the following tournament recently the more I realised it is not as stupid as first thought.
Italy 1990
The game that starts this off is this World Cup Classic - Argentina 0 - 1 Cameroon
Fifa have the whole game on their You Tube channel and if you have some time it is worth putting on in the background as it is worth a watch. Partly to work out how the hell Cameroon didn't finish with about 7 players.
I mean this happens in the 23rd minute. Akem with a chest height boot on Maradonna. It is a straight red everyday of the week. As Saint and Greavsie point out!
Anyway. Argentina the defending champion lost. Omam Biyik rises and heads Pumpido dives over the ball. Caniggia running down the wing with three players having a go at him. You all know the story - if not watch the game.
Argentina still somehow make the Final.
USA 1994
Germany the defending champion did pretty well in their group, One draw against Spain. But they never quite looked the same team as in 1990. Run close by Spain in the group and then Belgium in the 2nd round who had a nailed in penalty and red card for Helmer waived away. A decision so bad the referee was sent home early. Finally then losing to Bulgaria in the Quarter Finals featuring a team 9 out of the 11 who started the 1990 Final. Great for continuity but with starting line up average age nearly 30 it might have been tournament too many.
France 1998
Brazil now the champions lose to Norway in their final group game. Brazil still finished top of the group and got to the final. There is still controversy about the penalty but it seems that the referee saw something not picked up by the cameras. But Brazil were not as good as their 94 vintage and should have really been beaten by The Netherlands in the semi. Either way we add them to the list of beaten Champions.
Japan/Korea 2002
Again famously the holders get beaten in the first game by African opponents 1-0. This time it was Senegal in their first ever World Cup and a goal from Diop without the borderline assault. A France team that had been dominant to that point winning the 1998 World Cup and then 2000 Euros were favourites, they just never turned up. Not winning a game and going out at the group stage. Zidane had a thigh injury and missed the first two games. This team was back in a World Cup Final in 2006. But it was the worst performance ever by a defending champion and they failed to score a goal.
Germany 2006
Brazil steam through their group. Maximum points. 1-0 over Croatia, 2-0 over Australia and 4-1 over Japan. A 3-0 win over Ghana in round 2 (A game I was at. Ghana had a lot of great players out with cautions and Brazil were very efficient). Then they were dumped out by France at the Quarter Final 1-0. Zidane having an stand out performance and the French beating Brazil 3 times out 4 tries. There seemed little drop off from 2002 and just ran into a better team.
South Africa 2010
Holders Italy began their recent terrible World Cup downward spiral. Drawing with Paraguay and New Zealand. Then finally being knocked out in the group stage by being beaten 3-2 by Slovakia in must win game without Buffon in goal. They were again knocked out in the group in 2014 and did not qualified in 2018.
Brazil 2014
Spain did spectacularly badly - getting thrashed 5-1 by eventual finalist The Netherlands 5-1 and then 2-0 by Chile. Similar to France in 2002 and Italy in 2010 the Champion goes out in the group stage. . Were they getting old together or just a tournament too far as they had won the last 3 tournaments in a row - Euro 2008, World Cup 2010, Euro 2012? Maybe as a previous winner relying on previous winning teams there was not enough young blood. If it ain't broke don't fix it.
Russia 2018
We'll see how Germany get on this summer but that is 5 out of the last 7 Holders of the World Cup have gone on to lose a group game at the next Tournament. And 3 out of the last 4 winners have gone out in first round.
And no recent team of them has gone on to defend their title. Germany are playing in Europe this World Cup and have masses of pedigree. Their B team cruised to victory in the Confederations Cup and then won the U21 Euros. They were very under the radar in 2014 in Brazil as it was a big effort for European teams to win in South America and if the right blend of youth can be brought into the team it is possible. But history is very much against them and look out for them to join the recent winners and perhaps lose that opening game to Mexico (Mexico are currently 7-1 to win that game).
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