<P> After finishing first in the UEFA Euro 2016 qualifying Group D, Germany managed to win their group ahead of Poland, Northern Ireland and Ukraine . In the knock - out stages, they overcome Slovakia with a 3--0 win, then they won against Italy 6--5 in a penalty shootout (after a 1--1 draw) for the first time in a major tournament . Their journey ended in the semi-finals after a 2--0 loss against the host - nation France, the French first competitive win against Germany in 58 years . </P> <P> Having qualified as the 2014 World Cup Champion, the German coach Joachim Löw decided to participate in the competition with a young team captained by Julian Draxler . The team won their group ahead of Chile, Australia and Cameroon . Then, they won against Mexico 4--1 in the semi-finals to progress to the final . Unexpectedly, the young team managed to win Germany their first FIFA Confederations Cup title ever after a 1--0 win against Chile at the Krestovsky Stadium in Saint Petersburg . </P> <P> Despite winning their 10 matches in the 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification . Germany went out from the World Cup group stage, first exit in the first round since 1938, after two losses and only one win . The first match was against Mexico, the team which they beat in the FIFA Confederations Cup a year earlier, the match ended with a 1--0 win for the Mexicans, the German first loss in an opening match since the 1982 World Cup . The second match was against Sweden which ended in a 2--1 win, thanks to Toni Kroos's 95th minute goal . In the last match, Germany needed a "one - goal" win against South Korea to reach the next round, but two late goals during second - half stoppage time from South Korea made the defending champion leave the competition with only bad memories . </P> <P> Germany, known in German as a "Tournament Team" (German: Turniermannschaft), came to the 2018 tournament without their 2014 heroes Mario Götze and André Schürrle . The retirement of key players such as Philipp Lahm, Bastian Schweinsteiger, and Miroslav Klose meant the loss of leading players . During the tournament, poor performances by main players such as Thomas Müller and Sami Khedira, as well as wrong team selection by the coach Joachim Löw were the main factors in the devastating early exit . Moreover, complacency and lack of sharpness of the attacking players were obvious according to former player and coach Jürgen Klinsmann . </P>

Who was the first team to be knocked out of the world cup