Looking back at the so-called World Cup defending champions' group exit curse, it's almost a joke. First of all, this so-called curse, in the past two decades, in fact, there are exceptions, in the 2006 World Cup, Brazil, as the defending champion, easily passed the group stage, and finally reached the quarterfinals. Of course, Brazil were eliminated from the group at the 1966 World Cup as the defending champions, but the curse apparently began with the 2002 World Cup when France suffered Waterloo. Secondly, it was France itself that personally ended this curse, in the 2022 World Cup, the defending champion France not only successfully broke through from the group, but also finally reached the final, not to mention the curse of the group out, and they almost defended the title.
In fact, the so-called magic spell is just a gimmick summed up by everyone according to a series of coincidences, at best, it is a conversation after watching the game, with no logic at all, and no internal laws. However, football itself is entertainment, and these so-called curses are actually part of football, so it doesn't hurt.
Euro 2024 is in full swing. Everyone found out no, the curse of the defending World Cup champion out of the group has just ended, and the defending champion of the European Cup seems to be giving birth to a new curse. It's not as scary as the group exit, but it's powerful.
It all started with Switzerland's 2-0 win over Italy.
On the face of it, it was an upset. But judging from the scene, Italy was completely crushed by Switzerland, and it did not have the aura that a strong team should have. Of course, many people may not see Italy as a top team for a long time, but there is one identity that cannot be changed - the defending champions.
In Euro 2021, Italy won the championship without being favored, which also made everyone mistakenly believe that Italian football has completed a comprehensive revival. But Italy's absence from the 2022 World Cup, coupled with their exit in the round of 16 at this European Championship, once again shows that Italian football still has a long way to go before it can truly recover.
Stopping in the round of 16, although it is better than going out of the group, is obviously a failure for the defending champions. So Italy's trip to the European Championship is definitely a failure. However, Italy is not alone, looking at the defending champions of the previous two European Championships, they actually lost in the quarter-finals, just like Italy.
In the last European Championship, Portugal was the defending champion, and they finally managed to break through from the group of death, but lost 0:1 to Belgium in the round of 16 and were eliminated. Spain were the defending champions at the last European Championship, finishing second in their group to reach the round of 16 but were immediately eliminated by Italy.
In other words, since Spain completed the unprecedented defense of the European Cup, the fate of the defending champions has taken a sharp turn. Starting from Euro 2016 and Euro 2024, the three defending champions all stopped in the round of 16. Three instances in a row is enough to create a spell.
It can only be said that after the collapse of Spain's unsolvable transmission and control system, European football has entered a pattern of melee, and no one can always stand at the top. The defending champions are only enough to produce results in one tournament, and then they will become the target of public criticism, or be completely surpassed by other teams. Although this is very cruel for the defending champions, it is still a good thing for the ecology of European football. Of course, this so-called curse has lasted for three times, and now the key depends on who wins this European Cup, and if they also stop in the round of 16 in four years, then the shock of this curse may be doubled.