Germany were shaken right at the death against Colombia last time out, and South Korea left them reeling early on with their first goal of this tournament.
On the day Casey Phair became the WWC’s second-youngest starter, the 16-year-old saw an effort impressively tipped onto the post by Merle Frohms, before the more experienced Cho So-hyun latched onto Lee Young-ju’s masterful through ball and applied the coolest of finishes to spark jubilant celebrations just six minutes in.
Martina Voss-Tecklenburg’s side immediately pushed for an equaliser, although Klara Bühl sent two efforts wide from promising openings.
Adding to the frustration of those misses, resolute and organised defending from the Taeguk Ladies largely starved the Germans of opportunities throughout the rest of the first half.
However, captain Popp made no mistake when one eventually came in the 42nd minute, rising above Kim Hye-ri to clinically head home from Svenja Huth’s cross - joining compatriot Heidi Mohr in scoring during eight consecutive matches at WWCs and the UEFA Women’s Euros, the longest such streak across those competitions.
Morocco’s opener in Group H’s other match saw Germany emerge from the break in need of a winner. DFB-Frauenteam thought they had it when Sara Däbritz’s dinked cross was flicked on for Popp to bravely head home, but the striker had strayed marginally offside and was soon left in disbelief again as another imperious header struck the crossbar.
While Germany remained the side doing most of the attacking, there was an anxious moment at the other end with Frohms just about touching Ji So-yun’s corner delivery wide.
With Colin Bell’s side refusing to back down, even nearly 16 minutes of added time being played, Sydney Lohmann came closest to a German second with an effort that flashed agonisingly over as South Korea avoided defeat for just the third time in 13 WWC matches to earn their first point of this campaign.
In doing so, they contributed to the humiliation of Germany crashing out of the tournament having won just three of their last nine internationals.
Flashscore Player of the Match: Cho So-hyun (South Korea)
