The most shocking World Cup group stage exits of all time

3 Jun 2026 21:21 BST |
7 min read

Every edition of the World Cup produces some shocking underperformances, and 2026 will surely be no different.

Last time out in Qatar in 2022, Germany and Belgium were eliminated in the group stage. For the DFB team, it meant that they exited the World Cup at the earliest opportunity for the second consecutive time – despite winning it in 2014.

Belgium’s premature departure, meanwhile, marked the end of both Roberto Martinez’s tenure and the ‘golden generation’s’ chances of winning an international tournament. Martinez now heads into the 2026 iteration as the head coach of Cristiano Ronaldo’s Portugal.

Below, FootballTransfers looks at the most shocking group stage eliminations in World Cup history.

England: 1950

England travelled to the 1950 World Cup in Brazil expecting to just turn up and collect the trophy.

As the self-boasting inventors of the beautiful game, their media expected them to romp through the group stage. England had superstars of the world game such as Stanley Matthews, Tom Finney and Stan Mortensen.

They won their opening game 2-0 against Chile, but then it all went disastrously wrong. In their second match, they played against a part-time United States team comprised of players who were not even U.S citizens.

England were expected to win in double figures, but fell to a shock 1-0 defeat with the winner scored by Haiti-born Joe Gaetjens.

They then lost 1-0 to Spain in their final group game to exit the tournament in disgrace.

Italy: 1966

Serie A was the strongest league in the world during the early to mid 1960s, with Milan and Inter winning three straight European Cups between them.

The Italy national team was full of stars from these teams and were one of the favourites to win the World Cup in England in 1966.

They beat Chile 2-0 in their opener but lost 1-0 to the Soviet Union in their second match.

Nevertheless, all they needed was a draw in their final group game against minnows North Korea to qualify.

In the biggest shock in the Azzurri’s history, they lost 1-0. Pak Doo-Ik scored the winner for a nation who no one knew anything about. Italy’s players were greeted with rotten fruit from angry fans upon their return to their homeland.

Brazil: 1966

Yet Italy weren’t the best team to be eliminated in the group stages in the 1966 World Cup.

That was Brazil, who went into the tournament as the outright favourites. The Selecao had won the previous two editions in 1958 and 1962 and boasted a star-studded team.

Their star man was, of course, Pele.

Pele and fellow legend Garrincha scored in a 2-0 win in their first game against Bulgaria.

But Brazil then lost their next two matches to ultra-aggressive Hungary and Portugal teams, who quite literally kicked Pele out of the tournament.

Pele limped round the pitch for much of the final game versus Portugal and even retired from international football for a while in protest at how he was treated in England.

France: 2002

France went into the 2002 World Cup as world and European champions, having added the Euro 2000 crown to their 1998 Mundial success.

Their team was filled full of superstars; the likes of Thierry Henry, Zinedine Zidane, Patrick Vieira and Marcel Desailly.

They played Senegal in the first game of the tournament, a nation in their first-ever World Cup.

But France were under-par throughout as Papa Bouba Diop scored the winner on 30 minutes.

Things got no better after that. They drew 0-0 with Uruguay in their second game and then lost 2-0 to Denmark in their final match.

Les Bleus exited the tournament bottom of Group A on just one point.

Italy: 2010

Italy were reigning champions in 2010, having lifted the World Cup four years earlier in Germany.

This Azzurri side was ageing and wasn’t expected to retain their trophy, but they still possessed lots of superstars such as Andrea Pirlo and Gianluigi Buffon.

But with both those players struggling with injury, Italy incredibly failed to win a match in South Africa despite being in a very weak group.

They drew with Paraguay and New Zealand before losing 3-2 to Slovakia to go home.

Spain: 2014

Spain dominated international football between 2008 and 2012 in a way that had probably never been seen before.

They won successive European Championships and also lifted the 2010 World Cup in between.

They went into the 2014 World Cup as favourites to win a fourth straight major trophy but fell to a shock group elimination.

They were thrashed 5-1 by the Netherlands in their opener in a classic game and never recovered.

Their 2-0 defeat to Chile in their second match confirmed their elimination.

Germany: 2018

Germany also fell to the World Cup winner’s curse as they became the third reigning champion in a row to go out in the group stage.

The DFB side had lifted the trophy in Brazil four years earlier and also reached the semi-finals at Euro 2016.

But they completely bombed in Russia 2018. They lost their opening game against Mexico and were fortunate to win 2-1 in their next match versus Sweden with a last-minute free kick by Toni Kroos.

Nevertheless, this just delayed the inevitable as they lost 2-0 to South Korea in their final match to go home.

Germany: 2022

Germany were considered one of the favourites to lift the trophy in Qatar but fell to a surprising 2-1 defeat to Japan in their opening game of the tournament.

Then, having drawn with Spain in their second game, they needed to beat Costa Rica in their final match and for Spain to beat Japan – a realistic turn of events.

But Japan came from behind to beat the 2010 winners, so that the Germans’ 4-2 win over Costa Rica meant nothing.

Belgium: 2022

Having been one of the favourites to win the 2018 World Cup – and the European Championships either side – Belgium were not expected to triumph at the tournament in Qatar.

The likes of Eden Hazard, Jan Vertonghen and Toby Alderweireld were past their primes, but going out in the group stage remained unthinkable.

The Red Devils pinned their hopes on then-Manchester City star Kevin de Bruyne, who failed to show why he was one of the world’s best.

The disappointment was the end of Roberto Martinez’s time in charge, who came to be remembered most for failing to win a trophy with Belgium’s best-ever crop of talent and for refusing to integrate young players into the lineup.

Carlo Garganese is a highly-respected football writer, broadcaster and editor with more than 15 years of experience working at the highest level for major global brands. Garganese spent 12 years at Goal.com, where he played a significant role in building and developing the website into one of the largest football media organisations in the world.

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