Arsene Wenger believes Germany’s failure at the World Cup was down to the team’s “political demonstrations” at the tournament.

Germany players protested before World Cup matchHansi Flick’s team crashed out at group stageWenger says politics to blame for failure

WHAT HAPPENED? The Germany players covered their mouths in the match photo before they lost 2-1 to Japan in their opening game of the tournament in protest against FIFA’s ban on the OneLove captain’s armband that they, along with several other nations, had planned to wear in the tournament in Qatar.

WHAT THEY SAID: “You know when you go to a World Cup, you know you can’t lose the first game. The teams who have the experience to perform in tournaments like France and England played well in the first game,” Former Arsenal head coach Wenger, who is FIFA’s chief of global football development, said when asked about Germany’s early exit at the World Cup Technical Study Group. “The teams who were mentally ready, with a mindset to focus on competition, and not the political demonstrations.”

THE BIGGER PICTURE: Germany were knocked out of the group stage with four points, as they lost to Japan, drew with Spain and then beat Costa Rica. Japan went through as group winners while Spain were second.

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WHAT NEXT FOR GERMANY? Die Mannschaft will have to regroup after their latest failure as the pressure will be on the team to perform well at Euro 2024 as they are the tournament hosts.