Adidas stays calm as its teams exit World Cup

STORY: Adidas is trying to stay positive about the World Cup.

That's despite just three of its seven sponsored teams still being in the soccer tournament.

One of its biggest sides, Germany, crashed out on Thursday (December 1).

But the sportswear company said Friday (December 2) it still expected World Cup sales of around $421 million.

Adidas said sales were currently higher than those at the 2018 World Cup in Russia.

Adidas might be upbeat, but Germany's HDE retail association was not as optimistic.

A spokesman from the group said Germany's exit would hurt the firm.

It said without the German team, history showed that interest in fan merchandise usually dropped quickly.

Four-time champions Germany were knocked out of the World Cup despite a 4-2 victory over Costa Rica in their last group match.

Football shirts for the German team were on sale by the following day with a 50% discount on Adidas's online shop.

There was some consolation for the brand though, with Spain and surprise-package Japan both going through.

The pair are on the Adidas team, as is fellow survivor Argentina.