World Cup 2018: 3 reasons why Germany were sent packing by South Korea

SCORE: Germany 0-2 South Korea (Kim Young-Gwon 92'; Son Heung-Min 96')

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We've had some unbelievable upsets so far in Russia: Iceland holding and Croatia beating Argentina, Peru beating Australia, Iran holding Portugal and beating Morocco, Switzerland holding Brazil.

But we, without a doubt, were treated to the biggest upset in the competition bar none as the Asians plotted their way to the most historic victory in their recent history and the holding champions were humbled on the biggest stage in world football.

Germany took on South Korea in their final game of Group F and needed to get all three points to guarantee themselves a spot in the next round with Mexico almost guaranteed progression into the round of sixteen of the 2018 World Cup.

There was the possibility of Germany topping the group, but they needed Sweden to do them a favour and beat Mexico and the Germans themselves would have to win by a margin of at least two goals.

Far from it, the Germans were stunned at the hands of one of the least favoured sides in this edition of the World Cup, as they pushed for the goal they needed to go through to the last sixteen, but South Korea held firm and then went on to add insult to injury by scoring two goals in the 6 minutes of stoppage time. Here are the three reasons why the World Champions endured their worst night in recent history:

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#3 One too many needless changes by Joachim Low

The German coach has struggled to find the perfect combination.

Following their false start against Mexico in the opener, a German side which included the likes of Mesut Ozil and Sami Khedira, Low looked to shake things up a bit and rightly so. The next game saw both the players miss out as the manager opted to go with Draxler and Rudy.

It might not have raised the level of performance of the Germans but the ingredients were there to help Low get on the board and, thanks to a stunning curler by Kroos, they managed to do so in the dying embers of the game against Sweden.

Joachim Low's secret to success in Brazil was that he chose to opt for consistency in personnel and rarely made changes to the well-oiled machine. Germany are a shadow of what they were four years ago and understandably he was forced to tinker with the system to try and retain the winning formula. He has clearly failed to do so but after the win over Sweden, the right way to go would've been to retain the same side.

However, Joachim Low overcomplicated things and made five changes for the game against South Korea and the team looked as disjointed as ever. They struggled to get the ball further upfield quickly and lacked the firepower upfront to make the difference.

#2 Lack of creativity to unlock the door

Ozil failed to replicate his stellar performances from four years ago.

With Ozil coming back into the side, we'd expected the quality in the final third to be too much for South Korea to deal with. With Kroos pulling the strings in midfield, logic suggested that Germany would overpower the Asians.

Far from it. The Koreans were in the faces of the champions right from the off. They held their shape and flooded the areas surrounding their own penalty box with numbers. This ill-afforded the maestro, Ozil, to drop into space between the two banks of four and pick the telling pass.

The Koreans made sure to not leave too much space between the rear-guard and their midfield and that worked perfectly as Kroos and his compatriot failed to split the defence with their vision and creativity.

It meant that Germany had to plot a way towards the opposition goal from the wings and that is where the absence of the dynamic winger and Young Player of the Year in England, Leroy Sane, was glaring.

#1 Lack of firepower up front

Muller has failed to find the back of the net in over 270 minutes in Russia.

The Germans have struggled to replace their most prolific goalscorer in their World Cup history, Miroslav Klose. Unfortunately for Die Mannschaft, despite his presence - as part of the coaching staff - on the bench, he could not be called upon to make the difference.

He has also failed to impart his goalscoring knowledge to the newcomer in the German ranks - Timo Werner. With Werner the only out and out striker and an ageing Mario Gomez an option from the bench, the problems in the attacking aspect of things for the holders have been well documented.

Joachim Low hoped that with Muller and Rues playing in behind the striker, his side would be able to find a way past the opposition, if not by the presence of quality goal-scorers, by the sheer power of will.

Despite his side creating a whole host of chances in the three games with 28, 18, and 28 shots registered in the three group stage games, their inability to find the back of the net cost them dearly.

Just 2 goals from an attempted 74 shots highlight the shocking lack of firepower in the German ranks to make the difference in front of goal.