Morocco’s qualification to the quarterfinals of the Qatar Cup, eliminating Spain, in addition to unexpected victories by Japan, Saudi Arabia, Tunisia, South Korea and Cameroon, in the first phase, over favorites such as Germany, France, Portugal and Brazil, respectively, raised the question: would this be the World Cup for zebras? The numbers, however, show that other editions had more surprising overall results, even in more acute phases of the competition. The best 🥑 ever 🫶🏻🇲🇦 @WalidRegraguiof pic.twitter.com/bYujJo6uMj — Équipe du Maroc (@EnMaroc) December 6, 2022 This year’s Cup is the last in the 32-team format that debuted in 1998 (France). As of the next edition, in 2026 (United States, Canada and Mexico), there will be 48 teams. The current model, therefore, has been in force at seven World Cups, counting the current one. In this cut, none had as many zebras as the 2022 (South Korea and Japan). At the time, the quarterfinals brought together only two teams that were, at the time, among the top ten rankings of the International Football Federation (FIFA): Brazil (2nd) and Spain (8th). Since 1998, this has been the World Championship with the lowest representation of the top-10 among the top eight. Detail: only the Brazilians, who were champions, advanced to the semifinals. In addition, two of the three lowest ranked teams among the 32 qualified for the Cup also reached the quarterfinals: Korea (40th) and Senegal (42nd). The South Koreans even went further, stopping only in the semifinals, for Germany. The Senegalese, who surprised France, then current champions, in the first phase, by winning by 1-0, fell to another surprise of the World Cup, Turkey (22nd in the FIFA list, at the time). In the Qatar Cup, in turn, there are six teams in the top ten of the FIFA ranking in the quarterfinals. In the 32-team format, it is the World Cup with more representatives from the top-10 at this stage. In the 2006 (Germany) and 2010 (South Africa) editions, there were five teams. In addition, at least two of these teams will be in the next phase of the Qatar World Cup, due to the clashes between Argentina (3rd) and Holland (8th) and France (4th) and England (5th). If Brazil (1st) and Portugal (9th) eliminate Croatia (12th) and Morocco (22nd), respectively, 100% of the semifinalists will be in the top-10, which has not happened since 1998. The closest was in 2010 and 2014, when three of the four qualified for the semi-finals occupied a spot in the top ten of the FIFA rankings. In South Africa, Spain (2nd), the Netherlands (4th) and Germany (6th) were joined by Uruguay (16th). Four years later, the Germans, in second place, got there again, in addition to hosts Brazil (3rd) and Argentina (5th). The Dutch, in 15th position, completed the knockout round. In terms of surprises, the Cup that came closest to 2002 was Russia, in 2018, with only three top-10 countries in the quarterfinals: Brazil (2nd), Belgium (3rd) and France (7th). The detail is that the host team, the worst placed in the Fifa ranking among the best eight of the World Cup, was also the last among the 32 participants in the competition. The Russians occupied the 70th position. Even so, they eliminated Spain (10th) in the round of 16 and only fell on penalties to Croatia (20th), who would be runner-up. In 1998, there were also only three FIFA top-10 teams in the quarterfinals: Brazil (1st), Germany (2nd) and Argentina (5th). The difference is that, of the eight best teams in that Cup, Denmark, worst placed among them in the ranking, was in 22nd place, the same situation as Morocco in the 2022 edition. , with the final placement in the edition and respective position in the FIFA ranking, at the time, in parentheses. France – 1998 1st France (15th) 2nd Brazil (1st) 3rd Croatia (16th) 4th Netherlands (21st) 5th Italy (13th) 6th Argentina (5th) 7th Germany (2nd) 8th Denmark (22nd) South Korea / Japan – 2002 1st Brazil (2nd) 2nd Germany (11th) 3rd South Korea (40th) 4th Turkey (22nd) 5th Spain (8th) 6th England (12th) 7th Senegal (42nd) 8th United States (13th) Germany – 2006 1st Italy (11th) ) 2nd France (8th) 3rd Germany (14th) 4th Portugal (7th) 5th Brazil (1st) 6th Argentina (9th) 7th England (10th) 8th Ukraine (28th) South Africa – 2010 1st Spain (2nd) 2nd Holland (4th ) 3rd Germany (6th) 4th Uruguay (16th) 5th Argentina (7th) 6th Brazil (1st) 7th Ghana (32nd) 8th Paraguay (31st) Brazil – 2014 1st Germany (2nd) 2nd Argentina (5th) 3rd Netherlands (15th) 4th Brazil (3rd) 5th Colombia (8th) 6th Belgium (11th) 7th France (17th) 8th Costa Rica (28th) Russia – 2018 1st France (7th) 2nd Croatia (20th) 3rd Belgium (3rd) 4th England (12th) 5th Uruguay (14th) 6th Brazil (2nd) 7th Sweden (25th) 8th Russia (70th)
Agência Brasil
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