More World Cup teams, but the same World Cup story.
This edition in North America started with 48 teams; now it has dropped to eight, with six of those in Europe, except for Lionel Messi’s Argentina, the defending champions, and Morocco.
And if the rest of the African team does not produce a series of amazing results in the final two weeks, the champions will again come from Europe or South America.
The competition, which has been around for almost a century – the first World Cup was in 1930 – has been contested 22 times. Champions: 12 from Europe, 10 from South America, zero from the rest of the world combined.
The expansion of the World Cup has given more opportunities to continents that were previously under-represented in the tournament, but a look at the quarter-finals reveals a familiar story.
With France, Spain, Belgium, England, Norway and Switzerland still in contention, there could be a European semi-final series, just like in 2018.
