Continents who were previously underrepresented in the event now have greater opportunities thanks to the World Cup’s expansion to 48 teams, but a look at the quarterfinal lineup reveals a familiar story.
Lionel Messi’s Argentina, the current champions, and Morocco are the only two non-European nations in the final eight. There could be an all-European semifinal lineup, similar to that of 2018, with France, Spain, Belgium, England, Norway, and Switzerland still in the running.
Europe used to have 14 out of 24 World Cup slots in Italy in 1990, but in recent decades, that number has drastically dropped to 16 out of 48. Africa now has ten teams, compared to just five in Qatar in 2022. As a result, the rest of the world’s share of the spots has skyrocketed.
However, when it comes to the business end, Europe is winning. In fact, there are currently six teams in the quarterfinals, compared to just five four years ago. Only four European teams advanced to the quarterfinals in the 2002 World Cup, which is still an anomaly.
The majority of the world’s best football players play in the biggest leagues in Europe, which is where the riches is concentrated. The most gifted youngsters are produced by the best trainers in Western European academies, and many other nations have profited from this.
Thanks to a two-pronged strategy, Morocco, the only remaining African team, has emerged as a dominant force after becoming the continent’s first-ever World Cup semifinalists in 2022. A number of players on their team, such as playmaker Azzedine Ounahi, are graduates of the Mohammed VI Academy, a cutting-edge institution located outside of Rabat.
However, the majority of its players—captain Achraf Hakimi and Brahim Diaz from Spain, Noussair Mazraoui from the Netherlands, and Ayyoub Bouaddi from France, for instance—were born in western Europe and came via academy systems there. They became the first team in World Cup history to field a full foreign-born 11 at one time in the tournament’s opening match, a 1-1 draw with Brazil.
Morocco now has the opportunity to at least equal their historic 2022 semifinal run.
Almost 25% of all players chosen for this World Cup represented a nation other than their birthplace; many of these players were born in Europe but opted to wear the national colors of another country.
Argentina is not like other countries. The majority of their players were born there, although several were picked up early by European teams. Messi is the best example, having joined Barcelona at the age of just a teenager.
Although the majority of Brazil’s players are based in Europe, this is the first World Cup since 1990 that they have not advanced to the quarterfinals.
This is in spite of hiring Carlo Ancelotti, a European coach. In essence, the idea was to join them if you couldn’t defeat them. But Brazil’s loss to Norway in the round of 16 kept their record of losing every World Cup knockout match against European opponents since they last took home the championship in 2002.
In the meantime, this World Cup seemed to be the ideal chance for the United States to make it to at least the quarterfinals, just like they did in 2002. Belgium humiliated them 4-1 in the end of their competition. Only Australia and Japan advanced past the group stage, despite Asia having a record nine representatives.
Colombia had great expectations, but Switzerland, another little Western European country with an excessive amount of talent, upset them on penalties.
They are in their first quarterfinal since 1954, and they think they can play Argentina because of their proven track record of playing and competing against the best teams in Europe.
