MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. (AP) — Details world cup team. Same World Cup story.
This edition started with 48 teams. The number of participants has now been reduced to eight, six of whom are from Europe. and unless otherwise Morocco If the final two weeks produce a series of surprising results, the champion will come from Europe or South America.
Also. As always.
The tournament has been around for nearly a century, with the first World Cup held in 1930 and 22 editions to date. Champions: 12 from Europe, 10 from South America, and a total of 0 from the rest of the world.
This year’s quarterfinal lineup includes six players from Europe, one from South America, and one from Africa. This does not mean that the results will go down in history.
That said, some of Europe’s best players are surprised by how well they did at this World Cup.
“I thought I couldn’t do some things.” Norwegian star Erling Haaland He said this after his two goals helped his team beat Brazil and advance to the quarter-finals. This is the first time that his home country has advanced this far in the World Cup. “I think I’m wrong.”
He was wrong in a good way. The tournament organizers were wrong in a not-so-good way.
This year, North America had three cracks to break through in the bigger-than-ever 48-team World Cup, co-hosted by the United States, Mexico and Canada.
None of these teams even made it to the quarterfinals.
“We have to overcome the next hurdle,” US star Christian Pulisic said in a post-match television interview. Americans were expelled A 4-1 loss to Belgium in the Round of 16 shows how far North America still has to go. “Competing and trying to beat the best players in the world, that’s our next step… There are more steps for us to take.”
All three hosts made it through the group stage and round of 32 with ease. The United States, Mexico, and Canada had a combined record of 9 wins, 2 losses, and 1 draw in these games, outscoring their opponents by a combined 20 goals. Things were looking promising, to say the least.
Then came the round of 16. Thud.
England expels Mexico 3-2, America lost to Belgium The match looked one-sided from the beginning, Canada surpassed We lost to Morocco 0-3. Total numbers from the last three games: 0 wins, 3 losses, 0 points, 7 goals better.
“The level,” French soccer legend Thierry Henry said in his role as a Fox analyst after the U.S. loss. “The World Cup is different in the group stage. The round of 32 has never existed before. Everyone made history in the last 32. It has never existed before…Unfortunately, one host, two hosts, three hosts are eliminated. That’s exactly what you don’t want in a World Cup. That’s what bothers me.”
If Henry is annoyed, imagine how Canadians, Mexicans, and Americans feel.
A CONCACAF (North, Central American and Caribbean Football Confederation) team has not appeared in the World Cup quarterfinals since Costa Rica in 2014.
Before that, the USA’s best finish at a World Cup since finishing third in 1930 was in 2002. Canada has never made it past the round of 16. Mexico has played in each of the past nine World Cups. They reached the round of 16 in eight of those games, but never progressed further in that period.
“Everyone gave their all,” Mexico midfielder Eric Lira said. “But in the end, that wasn’t enough.”
It seems to be held back every four years everywhere except Europe and South America.
There was some diversity in the 2002 World Cup quarter-final squad, with all five confederations represented that year: Europe, South America, Asia, Africa, and North America.
That was a rare occurrence. Of the 48 quarter-final spots available for the six World Cups since then, Europe has won 30, South America 14, Africa three and North America one.
Morocco now carry the hopes of Africa on their shoulders, with the continent looking poised to make the breakthrough after getting through the group stages. Ten teams participated in the tournament. Nine players advanced to the round of 32.
And most teams saw their hopes dashed by late goals.
Ivory Coast, South Africa and Congo all conceded decisive goals from the 86th minute onwards to advance to the finals. Cape Verde’s magical journey came to an end in the 111th minute when they conceded an own goal to Lionel Messi and defending champions Argentina. And the outcome for Senegal and Egypt was particularly harsh. Both led 2-0 late in the second half, but then lost 3-2 to Belgium and Argentina, respectively.
Egypt felt the match was stolen By presiding over decisions.
“Maybe they wanted to keep the world champions in the tournament,” Egypt coach Hossam Hassan said. “Maybe they wanted Messi to stay in the competition.”
The counterpoint was how a powerhouse like Argentina found its way again. This is the fifth time in the last six World Cups that Messi’s team has reached the quarter-finals.
Some things appear to have remained the same.
“It wasn’t easy to come back from a 2-0 deficit in the World Cup finals, especially considering the situation in the recent games. Nobody gives us anything for free,” Messi said. “But thank God we were able to do it again.”
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