Germany sent home early in shock exit as Morocco exceed expectations by making the last 16 in their debut Women’s World Cup…
By Izzy Yard
Germany 1-1 South Korea
Embed from Getty ImagesAfter the shock of Brazil’s exit on Wednesday, there was an even bigger upset as Germany were knocked out at the group stage for the first time in their history
The Germans, ranked number two in world football, had to beat South Korea to guarantee progress but went behind in the sixth minute as Cho So-Hyun ran on to a pinpoint through-pass to calmly slot the ball home.
Germany hunted for an equaliser and eventually hit the back of the net before half-time when the evergreen Alexandra Popp nodded the ball into the bottom right corner.
Popp thought she had put Germany ahead with another crashing header but was called offside.
Lohmann had a great chance in the dying moments of the game but fired wide as the game ended square, leaving Germany on four points which was not enough to overtake Colombia and Morocco in Group H.
Morocco 1-0 Colombia
Embed from Getty ImagesThere were extraordinary scenes of celebration in Perth when the Morocco squad discovered that Germany had drawn with South Korea, which meant this 1-0 win took the Atlas Lionesses into the round of 16 in their World Cup debut.
Colombia had won their previous two games so were assured of qualification, and it was Morocco who scored the only goal of the game with a penalty on the stroke of half-time. Daniela Arias shoved Ibtissam Jraidi to the ground following a scramble in the box, and the referee pointed straight to the spot.
Ghizlane Chebback’s spot-kick was saved, but Anissa Lahmari was in the right place at the right time to pounce on a rebound after a block on the follow up, and scored to give Morocco the lead.
Colombia stepped up in the second half, managing to create some promising chances in the final third but they were denied by both the keeper and the woodwork.
Colombia still finished top of Group H, while Morocco are through to the knockout stages ahead of Germany in one of the biggest upsets of the tournament.
