Shell-shocked Germany captain Popp says she doesn‘t 'understand what's going on'

Germany captain Alexandra Popp has been left stunned by the country's shocking exit at the group stage of the Women's World Cup following a 1-1 draw with South Korea on Thursday.

The world No 2 ranked side, who made the final of the Euros last year, lost their second group game against Colombia, but were still in a strong position to qualify heading into the match after beating Morocco 6-0 in their opening group fixture.

However, they fell behind early on when Cho So-hyun scored in the sixth minute.

Popp equalised for Germany with a powerful header just before half time, but the European giants couldn't find a winner after the break, despite the game running for an incredible 107 minutes.

The Wolfsburg goal machine was shocked by the events that led to the nation's first-ever exit at the opening round of the tournament and struggled to make sense of the failure.

'I don't entirely understand what's going on,' Popp said. I have no idea what to say. I genuinely have no idea.'

With Morocco beating Colombia in the other Group H match, Germany were left in third and exited the World Cup with just four points from their three matches.

Germany pushed and pushed deep into stoppage time in an effort to find the one goal they needed, only to be met by a resolute South Korea defence.

As the final whistle blew some of Germany's players stood motionless while others collapsed to the ground in disappointment as tears flowed.

The Germans, champions in 2003 and 2007 and ranked second in the world, had needed a win to be sure of progressing.