Haves mostly have the golden cup too
Except Brazil and Argentina, the team holding the Fifa cup has always been one from the high-income nations.
By Vivek Sinha, TNN |
NEW DELHI: Even as the ‘have-nots’ have recorded a few upsets in the past, the ’haves’ still rule soccer. The economic profile of a country may not have a direct link with talent in what is one of the world’s most popular sports — soccer — but it does appear to have some bearing when it comes to performance in the World Cup matches.
| An ET analysis of the countries who qualified for the Fifa World Cup and their eventual performance during the tournament over the last 25 years reveals that teams from the so-called low income and lower middle-income economies have been consistently booking about one-third of the seats among those who move from the qualifiers to the final stage. But it has been primarily upon Brazil to represent the economic ‘have-nots’ in the quarter finals and beyond at the World Cups. |
Leave alone Brazil, which happens to be a lower middle-income economy as per the World Bank, the team holding the golden cup has always been one from the high-income nations or from upper middle-income economies like Argentina.
An ET analysis of the countries who qualified for the Fifa World Cup and their eventual performance during the tournament over the last 25 years reveals that teams from the so-called low income and lower middle-income economies have been consistently booking about one-third of the seats among those who move from the qualifiers to the final stage.
However, barring a few one-off cases like Senegal shocking defending champions France in the last World Cup or Cameroon defeating Colombia thanks to Latin American goalkeeper Rene Higuita’s mistake as he tried to dribble past Cameroon striker Roger Milla during the 1990 World Cup, it has been primarily upon Brazil to represent the economic ‘have-nots’ in the quarter finals and beyond at the World Cups.
European nations, most of them belonging to high-income economies, have been more consistent performers with teams like England, Germany, Italy, Spain, Netherlands, France, etc, figuring among the final eight contestants regularly.
While Cameroon and Senegal are the only low-income nations that booked seats among the last eight in the tournaments over the last two decades, some of the other lower middle-income nations to reach that stage include Romania and Bulgaria in the 1994 World Cup. That apart, Yugoslavia and Czechoslovakia were among the quarter finalists during the 1990 edition.
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In fact, it was during the 1990 World Cup in Italy and the subsequent one in USA, where teams from the non-high-income nations were at their best, accounting for three out of the eight places in the quarter finals.
During the 1998 World Cup, when the format changed to include 32 finalists for the World Cup as compared to 24 teams, the number of low income and lower middle-income qualifiers was the highest. However, their performance slipped during the tournament.
If the list of World Cup winners is compared, Brazil — a ’have-not’ in terms of economic profile, but a ‘have’ in terms of the magical talent of its star players — has been carrying the flag of the not-so-rich nations winning two of the six tournaments since 1982.
From a different perspective, a big chunk of qualifiers comes from middle-income nations (including both lower and upper middle-income economies). This includes most of the Latin American teams who are regulars along with the European teams. In fact, in the current edition of the World Cup, for the first time, middle-income nations have surpassed the number of high-income nations as finalists.
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