Last update 25 June, 2014 by Julio Muñoz
With this the one from Brazil there are already eight World Cups played on American soil. And something is obvious when analyzing the evolution of these championships. American countries always won and the great European powers failed miserably. In the eight American editions, only Italy - twice- and the Netherlands managed to savor reaching at least the final. The rest, disaster after disaster.
Germany, a world superpower, only made it to the final in 1986 and to the semifinal in 1970, both in Mexico. On South American soil, never even stepped on the final. France was also unlucky and never made it to the final, staying at 1986 with the semifinals as the best result. From England, Better not talk. They never made it past the quarterfinals.
This strange statistic is also no stranger to America when traveling to Europe. Only Brazil in 1958 managed to win in Europe as an American country. But Italy 1934, Spain 1982 or Germany 2006 they didn't even witness semifinalists from America. What does this obey? It is difficult to know. But if, that various facts can influence:
– La afición: logically playing in Europe is usually an advantage for European teams that are more supported by their number fans. On the contrary, it happens to americans on their continent.
– The weather: South America tends to host the World Cup in cold, when in Europe it's summer and it's hot. This makes it difficult or more difficult to acclimatize to European players.. Despite everything, doesn't seem like enough of an excuse when most of the World Cup players play in the Old Continent.
– Mentality: possibly the most determining factor. When you think about America you think about how difficult it is to win there historically and that carries a weight. Vice versa the same thing happens.
– luck: possibly another important factor. There is no need to fool yourself. Selections like Italy or Holland could have won the World Cup on American soil with a missing stroke of fortune.
In Brazil, for now, of the ten classified teams, only two are european.