More World Cup teams. Same World Cup story. This edition started with 48 teams; it’s now down to eight, with six of those from Europe. And unless Morocco pulls off a series of surprising outcomes over the final two weeks, the champion will come from Europe or South America.
Again. As always. A tournament that has been around for nearly a century — the first World Cup was in 1930 — has been contested on 22 previous occasions.
The champions: 12 from Europe, 10 from South America, zero from the rest of the globe combined.
This year’s quarterfinal lineup: six from Europe, one from South America, one from Africa. Not exactly a history-bucking set of outcomes there.
That said, it seems like even some of Europe’s best players are surprised at how well this World Cup has gone.
“I thought it was not possible to do some things,” Norway star Erling Haaland said after his two
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