From champions to also-rans

Courier Sport looks at the other reigning champions who have struggled:

1966 Brazil: The Brazilians came to England hoping for a hat-trick of successes after triumphing in 1958 and 1962, which was the last time a team successfully defended their world crown. A team featuring Pele, Garrincha and Jairzinho beat Bulgaria but 3-1 losses to Hungary and Portugal resulted in a first-round exit. Four years on in Mexico, Brazil would again win the World Cup.

2002 France: The first holders not to win a match in the next World Cup also failed to score a goal during a disastrous campaign in Japan and South Korea. France had won both the 1998 World Cup and Euro 2000 but they were without their talisman Zinedine Zidane for their opening two games in 2002 and suffered a shock loss to Senegal in the opening game. A scoreless draw with Uruguay was followed by a 2-0 defeat to Denmark as Les Bleus put up a limp title defence.

2010 Italy: The Italians, who had beaten France on penalties to win their fourth World Cup, appeared to have little to fear when they were drawn in a group with Paraguay, New Zealand and Slovakia. Draws with Paraguay and New Zealand left the Azzurri on the brink, though, and Slovakia recorded a thrilling 3-2 victory in the final group game to ensure the Italians were eliminated in the opening stage of a World Cup for the first time since 1974.

2014 Spain: La Roja had won three successive major international tournaments when the tiki-taka technicians arrived in Brazil but the 2014 World Cup proved a step too far. Their title defence began with a catastrophic 5-1 loss to Holland – the team they had beaten in the 2010 final – and they were out two games in when Chile defeated Vicente Del Bosque’s men 2-0.