Auf Wiedersehen! Germany’s World Cup failures leave their Qatar desert base for the last time, hours after being dumped out of the tournament, as stars reveal the ‘s***’ mood in their dejected camp
Germany have left their training base in Doha for the last time as they prepare to head back to Europe after their shock World Cup exit at the group stage on Thursday.
On a dramatic evening, Germany came from 2-1 down to beat Costa Rica 4-2, but it was not enough as Japan pulled off a surprise win against Spain to send Hansi Flick’s side out of the tournament on goal difference.
It is the second successive World Cup that Germany have failed to reach the knockout rounds, with the country’s media labelling their performance in Qatar as a ‘disgrace’.
Germany were dumped out of the World Cup at the group stage on Thursday night
The players have now left their training base for the final time to head back to Germany
Now the dejected squad are set to return home, and they left on the team bus on Friday as they headed for the airport.
Thomas Muller was pictured getting on the bus, with the Bayern Munich forward now facing a big decision over his future after hinting that he may now retire from international football.
Niclas Fullkrug was one of Germany’s brighter players in Qatar, scoring twice, but this was little consolation for him as he boarded the bus to take the side home.
It was a quick turnaround for the players, who did not arrive back at their team hotel until the early hours of Friday morning after some soul-searching in the dressing room following Thursday’s match.
Thomas Muller has a decision to make on whether to retire from international football
Niclas Fullkrug scored twice in Qatar, but is still heading home after just three matches
The wives and girlfriends of the team were left waiting for their partners until 2:45am, with some of the players seemingly in disbelief that they had been knocked out at the earliest possible stage of the competition.
The team sat in silence for 10 minutes in the changing room after thanking their fans, with no one knowing what to say to each other.
Winger Serge Gnabry, who scored Germany’s first goal on Thursday summed up the atmosphere afterwards by saying: ‘The mood in the cabin was s**t, you can imagine that. A lot of silence and a lot of disappointment, a lot of anger. It’s more anger at ourselves, we came here with a purpose and it’s our own fault if we don’t win the games.’
Germany team director Oliver Bierhoff could not muster a smile as he prepared to head home
Meanwhile, Joshua Kimmich labelled it ‘the most difficult day of my career‘.
Kai Havertz netted twice and earned the man of the match award, but was in no mood to celebrate as he claimed Germany’s situation ‘could also be a horror film’.
Having also failed to get past the round of 16 at last year’s Euros, Germany have now had three disappointing major tournaments in a row, and looked a far cry from the team that won the World Cup back in 2014.
They must now look to bounce back ahead of Euro 2024, which they will be hosting.