Histora.org newsletter July 6th, 2002 Brazil are World Champions for the 5th time after defeating Germany in the 17th World Cup final in Japan. Brazil's victory also gives South America the edge in total World Cup titles, 9 to 8 over Europe. From a historical perspective, there is certainly nothing odd about Brazil and Germany establishing themselves at the first World Cup of the new millenium, after all, at least one of the two nations has appeared in every final since 1950, with the exception of 1978. However, it was hardly what the pundits had expected after both nations struggled mightily to qualify for the finals in South Korea and Japan. Although no one in their right mind could exclude Brazil or Germany from their list of favourites for any World Cup, they were certainly not at the top of the list for 2002. Instead, those at the top of this list were the defending champions France, two time champions Argentina, three time champions Italy, with Spain, England, and Portugal all with a legitimate shot a the title. It was not to be for any of them, not one of them even reached the semi-finals. Instead it was Turkey who finally ceded to Brazil while South Korea had their dubious run ended by Germany. So what went wrong for the favourites? Was it bad luck? Fatigue? Injuries? Poor play? Too many stars? Refereeing errors? A combination of all the above did all of them in. France opened the festivities on May 31st with a shock defeat to Senegal and never recovered. Injuries to key offensive players, an aging and tired defence, goal bound shots hitting the post, and a dubiously sent off striker in the first half versus Uruguay all conspired to send the French home unfulfilled and bring a remarkable era of French domination to an end. Argentina were considered the second most likely champions coming into the tournament, but they knew their path to the second round would be difficult as they were drawn in the "group of death" with arch-rivals England, as well as Sweden and Nigeria. All seemed well after an opening victory against Nigeria, but they could not find the right combinations against England and Sweden and were sent home. Musical chairs at all their key offensive positions surely did not help. Portugal had been drawn into a group they were expected to win easily, but instead crashed out against South Korea and the United States and never really looked like the team we expected, their only consolation coming via a convincing but misleading win over Poland. England had secured a place in the second round with a satisfying defeat of arch-rivals Argentina, and appeared to be coasting after a round of 16 demolition of Denmark, but showed up flat for their quarter-final against an experienced Brazilian side ready to take advantage of it. Arguably the best team in the tournament, Spain were sent home by forces beyond their control. After having two legitimate goals disallowed in their quarter-final with South Korea, and more clear chances denied with dubious offsides calls, Spain collapsed in the penalty shootout and went home. Conspiracy theories abound, it is best to look at it as just a very bad day for the officials and for Spain, for the sake of the game, but Spain's elimination was a disgrace nonetheless. Italy suffered a similar fate as Spain in the round of 16 against the very same South Korea team, but it wasn't quite as blatant, though surely the Italians will never forget having their golden goal dubiously disallowed as well, or their playmaker getting sent off for reasons that are not quite clear. Italy will no doubt regret wasting so many chances to put the game out of reach, beyond the referee's influence. Although South Korea's path to the semi-finals will surely go down in history as a romantic, magical adventure by the upstart host nation, the facts cannot be denied: they were given great help by the officials, they did not defeat Italy and Spain, rather it was the referees who defeated them and propelled South Korea to the semi-finals. South Korea deserved their place in the round of 16, they played a marvelous first round, outclassing their opponents, but their subsequent victories over Italy and Spain were very unfortunate for football and will hopefully lead to reforms in refereeing. Japan, the other host nation, provided a little magic of their own, exceeding expectations by advancing past the first round at the expense of Russia, but then bravely went down against an opportunistic Turkish team. Senegal provided a great deal of excitement, proving their opening match win over France was no fluke, as they advanced to the second round with draws against Denmark and Uruguay, and vanquished the group of death winners Sweden with a golden goal. Turkey ultimately evened the golden score though, and sent them home. Senegal's feat of reaching the quarter-finals has only been accomplished once before by an African side, Cameroon in 1990. The United States provided even more evidence of a coming new world order in international football, exceeding all expectations and making believers even out of their own supporters with a remarkable run to the quarter-finals which included humiliating defeats of Portugal and Mexico, and very nearly Germany as well. It was hardly the performance we could have expected after the debacle in 1998, the future looks bright for team U.S.A. Turkey announced their arrival as a world power by finishing in third place, far better than anyone predicted. We can expect to see Turkey in the finals regularly from now on. There are many who will lament that the final did not feature the best teams in the world, but for all intents and purposes, Brazil and Germany were the best teams. The team everyone agrees is the best team rarely ends up winning the World Cup. Hungary were clearly the best team in 1954, but instead it was the Germans who were crowned champions. The Netherlands were the best team in 1974 and 1978, but both times ceded to the host nation. Although Brazil have won more World Cups than anyone else, they could make a very strong argument that they were the best team in nearly every World Cup since 1982, in which time they only won it once in 1994 and again here in 2002, though this time they were the ones who were not the best team. 2002 World Cup: ======================================================= First Round ======================================================= # Group A Pts GD W D L GF GA Den Sen Uru Fra - ------- --- -- - - - -- -- --- --- --- --- 1 Denmark 7 +3 2 1 0 5 2 ___ 1-1 2-1 2-0 2 Senegal 5 +1 1 2 0 5 4 ___ ___ 3-3 1-0 3 Uruguay 2 -1 0 2 1 4 5 ___ ___ ___ 0-0 4 France 1 -3 0 1 2 0 3 ___ ___ ___ ___ ======================================================= # Group B Pts GD W D L GF GA Esp Par RSA Slv - ------- --- -- - - - -- -- --- --- --- --- 1 Spain 9 +5 3 0 0 9 4 ___ 3-1 3-2 3-1 2 Paraguay 4 0 1 1 1 6 6 ___ ___ 2-2 3-1 3 South Africa 4 0 1 1 1 5 5 ___ ___ ___ 1-0 4 Slovenia 0 -5 0 0 3 2 7 ___ ___ ___ ___ ======================================================= # Group C Pts GD W D L GF GA Bra Tur CRC Chn - ------- --- -- - - - -- -- --- --- --- --- 1 Brazil 9 +8 3 0 0 11 3 ___ 2-1 5-2 4-0 2 Turkey 4 +2 1 1 1 5 3 ___ ___ 1-1 3-0 3 Costa Rica 4 -1 1 1 1 5 6 ___ ___ ___ 2-0 4 China 0 -9 0 0 3 0 9 ___ ___ ___ ___ ======================================================= # Group D Pts GD W D L GF GA SK USA Por Pol - ------- --- -- - - - -- -- --- --- --- --- 1 South Korea 7 +3 2 1 0 4 1 ___ 1-1 1-0 2-0 2 United States 4 -1 1 1 1 5 6 ___ ___ 3-2 1-3 3 Portugal 3 +2 1 0 2 6 4 ___ ___ ___ 4-0 4 Poland 3 -4 1 0 2 3 7 ___ ___ ___ ___ ======================================================= # Group E Pts GD W D L GF GA Ger Irl Cmr KSA - ------- --- -- - - - -- -- --- --- --- --- 1 Germany 7 +10 2 1 0 11 1 ___ 1-1 2-0 8-0 2 Rep. Ireland 5 +3 1 2 0 5 2 ___ ___ 1-1 3-0 3 Cameroon 4 -1 1 1 1 2 3 ___ ___ ___ 1-0 4 Saudi Arabia 0 -12 0 0 3 0 12 ___ ___ ___ ___ ======================================================= # Group F Pts GD W D L GF GA Swe Eng Arg Nig - ------- --- -- - - - -- -- --- --- --- --- 1 Sweden 5 +1 1 2 0 4 3 ___ 1-1 1-1 2-1 2 England 5 +1 1 2 0 2 1 ___ ___ 1-0 0-0 3 Argentina 4 0 1 1 1 2 2 ___ ___ ___ 1-0 4 Nigeria 1 -2 0 1 2 1 3 ___ ___ ___ ___ ======================================================= # Group G Pts GD W D L GF GA Mex Ita Cro Ecu - ------- --- -- - - - -- -- --- --- --- --- 1 Mexico 7 +2 2 1 0 4 2 ___ 1-1 1-0 2-1 2 Italy 4 +1 1 1 1 4 3 ___ ___ 1-2 2-0 3 Croatia 3 -1 1 0 2 2 3 ___ ___ ___ 0-1 4 Ecuador 3 -2 1 0 2 2 4 ___ ___ ___ ___ ======================================================= # Group H Pts GD W D L GF GA Jpn Bel Rus Tun - ------- --- -- - - - -- -- --- --- --- --- 1 Japan 7 +3 2 1 0 5 2 ___ 2-2 1-0 2-0 2 Belgium 5 +1 1 2 0 6 5 ___ ___ 3-2 1-1 3 Russia 3 0 1 0 2 4 4 ___ ___ ___ 2-0 4 Tunisia 1 -4 0 1 2 1 5 ___ ___ ___ ___ ======================================================= Second Round: ============================================================== Brazil 2-0 Brazil Belgium 2-1 Brazil Denmark 0-3 England England 1-0 Brazil Senegal 2-1 Senegal Sweden 0-1 Turkey Japan 0-1 Turkey Turkey 2-0 Brazil South Korea 2-1 South Korea Italy 0-0 South Korea Rep. Ireland 1-1 Spain Spain 0-1 Germany United States 2-0 United States Mexico 0-1 Germany Paraguay 0-1 Germany Germany ================================================================ Previous World Cups: ====================================================================== Year Winner Runner-Up Semi-Finalists Quarter-Finalists ---------------------------------------------------------------------- 1930 Uruguay Argentina United States Paraguay Yugoslavia Romania Brazil Chile ---------------------------------------------------------------------- 1934 Italy Czechoslovakia Germany Switzerland Austria Sweden Hungary Spain ---------------------------------------------------------------------- 1938 Italy Hungary Sweden Switzerland Brazil Cuba Czechoslovakia France ---------------------------------------------------------------------- 1950 Uruguay Brazil Sweden Bolivia Spain Italy England Yugoslavia ---------------------------------------------------------------------- 1954 West Germany Hungary Austria Switzerland Uruguay England Yugoslavia Brazil ---------------------------------------------------------------------- 1958 Brazil Sweden France Soviet Union West Germany Wales Yugoslavia N. Ireland ---------------------------------------------------------------------- 1962 Brazil Czechoslovakia Chile England Yugoslavia Hungary West Germany Soviet Union ---------------------------------------------------------------------- 1966 England West Germany Soviet Union North Korea Portugal Hungary Argentina Uruguay ---------------------------------------------------------------------- 1970 Brazil Italy West Germany Peru Uruguay England Mexico Soviet Union ---------------------------------------------------------------------- 1974 West Germany The Netherlands Poland Argentina Brazil Sweden Yugoslavia East Germany ---------------------------------------------------------------------- 1978 Argentina The Netherlands Brazil Peru Italy Austria West Germany Poland ---------------------------------------------------------------------- 1982 Italy West Germany France Soviet Union Poland Brazil England Austria ---------------------------------------------------------------------- 1986 Argentina West Germany France England Belgium Spain Brazil Mexico ---------------------------------------------------------------------- 1990 Germany Argentina England Rep. Ireland Italy Yugoslavia Cameroon Czechoslovakia ---------------------------------------------------------------------- 1994 Brazil Italy Bulgaria The Netherlands Sweden Spain Germany Romania ---------------------------------------------------------------------- 1998 France Brazil Croatia Argentina The Netherlands Germany Denmark Italy ---------------------------------------------------------------------- 2002 Brazil Germany South Korea England Turkey United States Spain Senegal ====================================================================== If we award 32 points to a nation that wins the World Cup, 16 to the runner-up, 8 to the losing semi-finalists, 4 to the losing quarter-finalists, etc, we get this ranking which demonstrates that Brazil and Germany are indeed the most dominant World Cup nations of all time: ================================================================== # Nation TPts Aps 1st 2nd SF QF TP/Ap 1RP 2RP 3RP - ------ ---- --- --- --- -- -- ----- --- --- --- 1 Brazil 238 17 5 2 3 4 14.00 82 70 41 2 Germany 202 15 3 4 3 4 13.47 93 86 73 3 Italy 164 15 3 2 2 2 10.93 66 53 46 4 Argentina 119 13 2 2 _ 3 9.15 69 38 38 5 Uruguay 93 10 2 _ 2 1 9.30 69 40 29 6 England 72 11 1 _ 1 7 6.55 81 54 18 7 France 71 11 1 _ 3 1 6.45 45 36 36 8 Sweden 55 10 _ 1 3 2 5.50 69 40 20 9 Hungary 50 9 _ 2 _ 3 5.56 55 33 22 The Netherlands 50 7 _ 2 1 1 7.14 71 57 57 11 Czech Republic 47 8 _ 2 _ 2 5.88 50 37 25 12 Yugoslavia 39 9 _ _ 2 5 4.33 77 44 _ 13 Spain 35 11 _ _ 1 4 3.18 63 45 9 14 Russia 29 9 _ _ 1 4 3.22 66 44 11 15 Mexico 28 12 _ _ _ 2 2.33 41 25 8 Austria 28 7 _ _ 2 2 4.00 57 42 _ 17 Belgium 27 11 _ _ 1 _ 2.45 45 18 9 18 Poland 25 6 _ _ 2 1 4.17 66 50 16 19 Chile 21 7 _ _ 1 1 3.00 28 14 _ 20 United States 20 7 _ _ 1 1 2.86 42 28 _ Switzerland 20 7 _ _ _ 3 2.86 57 _ _ 22 Bulgaria 19 7 _ _ 1 _ 2.71 28 14 14 23 Romania 18 7 _ _ _ 2 2.57 42 28 14 24 South Korea 14 6 _ _ 1 _ 2.33 16 16 16 Paraguay 14 6 _ _ _ 1 2.33 50 _ _ 26 Scotland 12 8 _ _ _ _ 1.50 _ _ _ 27 Peru 11 4 _ _ _ 2 2.75 50 25 _ 28 Turkey 10 2 _ _ 1 _ 5.00 50 50 50 Portugal 10 3 _ _ 1 _ 3.33 33 33 33 30 Croatia 9 2 _ _ 1 _ 4.50 50 50 50 31 Republic of Ireland 8 3 _ _ _ 1 2.67 100 33 _ Cameroon 8 5 _ _ _ 1 1.60 20 20 20 Denmark 8 3 _ _ _ 1 2.67 100 100 _ 34 Northern Ireland 7 3 _ _ _ 1 2.33 66 33 _ Bolivia 7 3 _ _ _ 1 2.33 _ _ _ 36 Colombia 6 4 _ _ _ _ 1.50 25 _ _ Morocco 6 4 _ _ _ _ 1.50 25 25 _ 38 Nigeria 5 3 _ _ _ _ 1.67 66 66 _ Norway 5 3 _ _ _ _ 1.67 33 _ _ 40 Senegal 4 1 _ _ _ 1 4.00 100 100 _ Tunisia 4 3 _ _ _ _ 1.33 _ _ _ Cuba 4 1 _ _ _ 1 4.00 100 _ _ East Germany 4 1 _ _ _ 1 4.00 100 100 _ Saudi Arabia 4 3 _ _ _ _ 1.33 33 _ _ North Korea 4 1 _ _ _ 1 4.00 100 _ _ Wales 4 1 _ _ _ 1 4.00 100 _ _ 47 Costa Rica 3 2 _ _ _ _ 1.50 50 _ _ El Salvador 3 2 _ _ _ _ 1.50 _ _ _ Iran 3 2 _ _ _ _ 1.50 _ _ _ Egypt 3 2 _ _ _ _ 1.50 _ _ _ Japan 3 2 _ _ _ _ 1.50 50 _ _ 52 South Africa 2 2 _ _ _ _ 1.00 _ _ _ Congo (Kinshasa) 2 1 _ _ _ _ 2.00 _ _ _ Dutch East Indies 2 1 _ _ _ _ 2.00 _ _ _ Australia 2 1 _ _ _ _ 2.00 _ _ _ Haiti 2 1 _ _ _ _ 2.00 _ _ _ Algeria 2 2 _ _ _ _ 1.00 _ _ _ Israel 2 1 _ _ _ _ 2.00 _ _ _ 59 China 1 1 _ _ _ _ 1.00 _ _ _ Iraq 1 1 _ _ _ _ 1.00 _ _ _ United Arab Emirates 1 1 _ _ _ _ 1.00 _ _ _ Ecuador 1 1 _ _ _ _ 1.00 _ _ _ Honduras 1 1 _ _ _ _ 1.00 _ _ _ Greece 1 1 _ _ _ _ 1.00 _ _ _ Canada 1 1 _ _ _ _ 1.00 _ _ _ Jamaica 1 1 _ _ _ _ 1.00 _ _ _ Kuwait 1 1 _ _ _ _ 1.00 _ _ _ New Zealand 1 1 _ _ _ _ 1.00 _ _ _ Slovenia 1 1 _ _ _ _ 1.00 _ _ _ ================================================================== =================================== Statistics Legend =================================== TPts : Tournament Points Aps : Appearances 1st : Number of titles 2nd : Number of times runner-up SF : Number of times losing semi-finalist QF : Number of times losing quarter-finalist TP/Ap : Points per appearance 1RP : First round advance percentage 2RP : Second round advance percentage 3RP : Third round advance percentage =================================== And so Brazil will be World Champions for the next four years, at which time they will have to defend their title in Germany.