Spain becomes the newest victim of what is known by some as the World cup curse. They become the fifth in an unwanted list of history books of world champions to be knocked out at the group stages, joining the likes of Italy 1950, Brazil 1966, France 2002 and Italy 2010. The Italians were the first to be afflicted by the curse, though they were the long standing defending champions having won the title in 1934 and 1938 with a 12 year gap until the next tournament in 1950. They lost 2-0 to Sweden before beating Paraguay 2-0 though it wasn't enough to keep them in the tournament, the national team was weakened due with some of the side dying in the Superga air disaster a year before the start of the tournament.
The Brazilians won their second World Cup in 1962, beating Czechoslovakia 3-1 in the final but failed to proceed from the group stage in the following tournament. Despite winning their opening match 2-0 against Bulgaria, they were defeated in their second match 3-1 by Hungary and in their third match by Portugal.
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| Mauro picks up the Jules Rimet Cup for Brazil in 1962 |
Les Bleus won the tournament in 1998 after trashing Brazil in the final but they didn't progress from the group stage in the following tournament. Tournaments debutants Senegal pulled off what is still considered by some to be one of the biggest World Cup upsets ever in the opening match, as Papa Bouba Diop scored in a shock 1-0 victory over Les Bleus. In the second match Uruguay held France to a draw and Denmark defeated them by 2-0, earning them the record of worst ever World Cup performance by a defending champion.
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| France in 1998 |
Italy won the World Cup after the dramatic penalty shootout win against France in 2006 but crashed out in the group stage in South Africa 2010, despite been drawn in a seemingly easy group with Paraguay, New Zealand and Slovakia.
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| Italy at Germany 2006 |
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