POPP OUT
Germany were the beneficiaries of what stands to this day as the biggest shock in the entire history of the men’s World Cup: the time they stunned Hungary’s world-famous Golden Team in the 1954 final. That was fair enough, all good and well, but the rules of karmic cash-out meant that a terrible debt at some point needed to be settled. You might have thought that back-to-back group exits for the current shower representing the men had levelled the scales somewhat. But no! The football gods were never going to respond to the demise of teams featuring the likes of Timo Werner, Mesut Özil and Kai Havertz with anything more than a disengaged shrug. It’s simply not enough of a jaw-dropper. When you boil it down, it’s not really a shock at all.
