World Cup: Joachim Low Considering Germany Future, Couldn't Imagine South Korea Loss

Germany manager Joachim Low is contemplating his future after seeing his side lose 2-0 to South Korea and finish bottom of Group F on Wednesday.

After a shaky start to the World Cup with a 1-0 loss to Mexico and a last minute 2-1 win over Sweden, the 2014 champions required just a win over the virtually-eliminated South Korea to progress to the round of 16. However, they were unable to break through the Asian side's defense and would eventually concede in the 90th minute to a Kim Young-gwon strike.

With Sweden leading 3-0 against Mexico to top the group, Germany went for an all-out attack but were caught out once again as goalkeeper Manuel Neuer was dispossessed in South Korea's half and Tottenham forward Son Heung-min went on to score in an empty net to pile on the misery.

It marked not only the fourth time in the last five tournaments that a reigning champion exited in the group stage but also the first time Germany had exited the group stage of a World Cup since 1938 as questions surrounding Low's future started to emerge.

The 58-year-old only recently signed a contract extension last month that would keep him as Germany manager until 2022, but following his side's group stage exit, he refused to confirm if he will remain in his post.

"It is too early for me to answer that question," Low said when asked if he will take charge during the European championships in 2020. "We need a couple of hours to see things clearly."

"The disappointment is deep inside me. I couldn’t imagine we would lose to South Korea. I’m shocked because we didn’t pull it off. It’s premature for me to say something, I’m incredibly disappointed. Where we go from here – we will have to take some time and talk about it calmly."

Many critics felt Germany were arrogant in the lead-up to their exit. They had only won once in their last six friendlies leading up to Russia, conceding in all but just one game during a 0-0 draw with England back in November. Low also shocked many when he decided not to name Manchester City's Leroy Sane in his final squad.

And given how casually offensive they were in the three games, resulting in being caught on the counter and conceding in each match, it's safe to assume they underestimated their Group F opponents as Low admitted the players thought their poor pre-tournament results would automatically improve during the World Cup.

"We had a good training camp," Low added. "The team worked well, players were training really well but the two friendly matches, against Austria and Saudi Arabia, were not good. Maybe we thought at the push of a button we could shift gears but we lost against Mexico. If we had taken a point it would have been different. We couldn’t flip that switch. We were convinced once the tournament started we would be able to play well but it didn’t happen."

Low, however, was adamant the future of German football is still bright, especially going by their results since the 2006 World Cup and their current youth prospects.

"Until quite recently we were probably the most constant in terms of performance in the past 10, 12 years. We were always in the final four for a long period, including the 2014 and 2017 wins in the World Cup and the Confederations Cup," he added.

"This is a case of absolute sadness and disappointment. We have young players who are very talented and still have the potential to go forward. This has happened to other nations before. We just have to draw the right conclusions."

Group winners Sweden will face Switzerland while Mexico take on Brazil in the round of 16.