No nation has ever successfully defended a World Cup except for Brazil in 1962.
Since 2002, 3 out of the 4 defending champions have been eliminated in the first round group stage. France in 2002, Italy in 2010 and Spain in 2014. Again, the only exception here is Brazil in 2006 who managed to get to the quarterfinals at WC2006.
However, Germany is still one of the favourites, according to the bookmakers.
Can they retain their FIFA World Cup in 2018?