A biblical phrase dictates that the last shall be first. In the history of the World Cup, there are two examples of this. They are Croatia and Germany, teams that managed to reach the final of the World Cup after qualifying through the playoffs.
The first one to achieve this was the German national team in the 2002 Korea-Japan World Cup. The Germans qualified for this football event after defeating Ukraine in one of the European playoffs. The panzers overpowered the Ukrainian team with an overall score of 5-2 (4-1 in the first leg and 1-1 in the second leg).
YOU MAY SEE: Coach who qualified Australia for the 2006 World Cup bets on Peru and praises Farfán.
In the World Cup, Germany finished first in Group E with seven points, ahead of Ireland, Cameroon, and Saudi Arabia. In the Round of 16, quarterfinals, and semifinals, the Germans defeated Paraguay, the United States, and South Korea by the narrowest of margins. In the final, they faced Brazil and lost 2-0 with goals from Ronaldo.
Brazil secured the 2002 World Cup title by defeating Germany in the final with two goals from Ronaldo. Photo: Difusión
The second team to achieve this was Croatia. The Croats reached Russia 2018 by defeating Greece 4-1 on aggregate: 4-1 in the first leg and 0-0 in the second leg. The Balkan team was placed in Group D and qualified for the Round of 16 as group leaders. In that stage, they defeated Denmark on penalties after a 2-2 draw in regular time.
In the quarterfinals, they defeated Russia, also on penalties, after a 2-2 draw in the match. In the semifinals, the Croats overcame England 2-1 in extra time and reached the final against France. Against the blues, Croatia suffered a 4-2 defeat.