Italy, the defending champions, have been knocked out of the world cup by Slovakia! This must be a first that the 2 finalists from the previous world cup got knocked out at the first stage of a world cup… and both finished at the bottom of their groups too… incredible! They looked like a shadow of the team that won the world cup 4 years ago. New Zealand has finished above Italy with Slovakia going through to the knockout stages and Paraguay joining them as group winners.