It doesn’t get any easier.
Germany looked set to continue the recent trend of the winners of the previous World Cup going out in the group stage of the following tournament as they went 1-0 down to Sweden in their second group game. But with a goal from Marco Reus straight after the break to level the scoring, they were back in control of the match.
Die Mannschaft went on to grab a winner in the 94th minute courtesy of a spectacular Toni Kroos free kick. It was the least they deserved after knocking on the door for the entire second half.
Assuming they go on to win their final group game against South Korea, Germany will finish the group with six points.
This would put them in second place in the group, assuming Mexico still hold an advantage over them in terms of goal difference (Mexico are currently two goals to the good on the Germans), this means that Germany’s Round of 16 tie would be against the winners of Group E. Who’s that? Only Brazil.
When the World Cup groups were drawn, Germany will not have envisaged themselves coming up against Brazil in the second round, but their opening game defeat to Mexico has put them in such a position that it appears very likely.
On their day, Germany are more than capable of beating Brazil, as they showed at the last World Cup. But Brazil look a different side to the one that capitulated four years ago, while Germany seem to be caught between two generations, unsure of what their best tactic is.
