Defending World Cup champ Spain ousted in first round shocker
Spain, the top-ranked team in world and the defending World Cup champion, is finished in Brazil following a devastating 0-2 loss to Chile on Wednesday.
The Spaniards entered the tournament as one of the heavy favorites to win it all, but they looked listless in an embarrassing opening round thrashing at the hands of the Netherlands. And though they had ample opportunities at redemption Wednesday, this gif sums up the disappointing play that doomed them to an early exit:
Though La Roja have one game remaining in the group stage, against Australia, there is no mathematical path for them to advance now that Chile and the Netherlands have each won twice. The result is an absolute stunner. FiveThirtyEight gave Spain a 79 percent chance to make the knockout round — and the site was admittedly pessimistic compared to other forecasters.
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