FIFA World Cup 2026 :Canada/Mexico/United States: Discussion Thread

[Rampagoe004]

Europe is dying. Just because teams such as England, France and Spain are surviving, it doesn't mean that situation is healthy in the overall region. Look at teams such as Danmark, Italy, Netherlands, Belgium and Sweden. These teams used to be among the top. Where are they now? Many of these teams are going to miss the boat to 2026 World Cup. The rise of Asia and Africa is unstoppable. We have new teams such as Uzbekistan, Jordan, Cape Verde and Ivory Coast qualifying for the world cup. And in another two editions (by 2034?) the world cup itslef will be dominated by the AFC and CAF teams. 

In fact, each top-ranked team this time also featured their usual top teams. Group leaders like
Germany, Switzerland, Denmark, France, Spain, Portugal, the Netherlands, Austria, Norway, Belgium, England, and Croatia have all regularly advanced to the next phase. Perhaps the only difference is Italy, which this time finished second in its group.

Why big teams like Germany, England, France, and Spain can survive to compete in the 2026 World Cup? I think they have maintained their noble consistency since the beginning of qualifying and have also finished in the top 8 almost every time they participate in the World Cup.
The rise of Asia and Africa could provide a new and exciting atmosphere with new teams like Uzbekistan, Jordan, and Cape Verde.
Let's see if they can defeat the European group leaders.

[*Ace*]

FIFA is a disgrace for football, and the 48-team World Cup is the natural result of a corrupted association that only cares about making money in any possible way, legal or not.

Imho, things will become only worse in the future. Last month I read that some South American countries are pushing for 64 teams in 2030 WC. While I don't think its gonna happen as of yet, there is a solid chance that we see it in lets say 10-15 years.

Yes, because South America needs more spots, they only qualify 6, possibly 7 teams out of team, they need at least 9 teams in World Cup

Yes, the reasoning is correct, but we must also consider that there are nations like Italy that have not seen their national team participate for a very long time and yet they watch the World Cup regardless of whether they are protagonists, and I have seen this several times.

Ok, but do you think that Italians are going to watch Jordan or Uzbekistan playing? Are you excited to eventually see Tunisia vs New Zealand? Or Cape Verde against Qatar? I don't know about you but I won't even turn the tv on for such matches, I couldn't care less. We're not talking about Spain, Argentina, Brazil, etc etc, we're talking about teams with completely unknown players. Does anybody know the Tunisia squad? Or Jordan? Or Qatar? Come on, they are a bunch of average players that maybe in Europe could play in second division.

Unfortunately, Italy is not having much luck in this regard.
We have some prestigious players, but we haven't managed to qualify for the World Cup in a long time.
Once again, we are not doing badly in the qualifiers, but unfortunately Norway has not lost a single match so far.
I don't know! Maybe we are just unlucky.

[$weetne$$]

Why big teams like Germany, England, France, and Spain can survive to compete in the 2026 World Cup? I think they have maintained their noble consistency since the beginning of qualifying and have also finished in the top 8 almost every time they participate in the World Cup.
The rise of Asia and Africa could provide a new and exciting atmosphere with new teams like Uzbekistan, Jordan, and Cape Verde.
Let's see if they can defeat the European group leaders.

These teams are the Big players across Europe, they have some really solid squad that it may sometimes not really require them to have an extremely good coach for them to perform so well and that is why most often these big sides find it easy securing a position at the World Cup competition often.  Africa  could someday rise to match up with this but they are still very much developing in football and as for Asia, an improvement in their domestic league may be the unlocking key they need because when players from there arrive Europe, the stand out so well that it becomes clear how much they can achieve if they get the enabling environment.

[Lillominato89]

FIFA is a disgrace for football, and the 48-team World Cup is the natural result of a corrupted association that only cares about making money in any possible way, legal or not.

Imho, things will become only worse in the future. Last month I read that some South American countries are pushing for 64 teams in 2030 WC. While I don't think its gonna happen as of yet, there is a solid chance that we see it in lets say 10-15 years.

Yes, because South America needs more spots, they only qualify 6, possibly 7 teams out of team, they need at least 9 teams in World Cup

Yes, the reasoning is correct, but we must also consider that there are nations like Italy that have not seen their national team participate for a very long time and yet they watch the World Cup regardless of whether they are protagonists, and I have seen this several times.

Ok, but do you think that Italians are going to watch Jordan or Uzbekistan playing? Are you excited to eventually see Tunisia vs New Zealand? Or Cape Verde against Qatar? I don't know about you but I won't even turn the tv on for such matches, I couldn't care less. We're not talking about Spain, Argentina, Brazil, etc etc, we're talking about teams with completely unknown players. Does anybody know the Tunisia squad? Or Jordan? Or Qatar? Come on, they are a bunch of average players that maybe in Europe could play in second division.

Unfortunately, Italy is not having much luck in this regard.
We have some prestigious players, but we haven't managed to qualify for the World Cup in a long time.
Once again, we are not doing badly in the qualifiers, but unfortunately Norway has not lost a single match so far.
I don't know! Maybe we are just unlucky.

I feel a little ashamed of our national team.
It is completely unacceptable that we have failed to qualify for the World Cup three times in a row.
It is not just a matter of bad luck, but also of developing our young players!
Spain and France are strongly focused on young players, and England and Germany are doing much the same. Italy, on the other hand, prefers to focus on established players! I wonder why!

[Ale88]

I'm afraid I won't see anything funnier today.
Europe is the undisputed king, CONMEBOL is the prince, everyone else is just furniture and scenery against which the main action takes place.
You can be offended by the actual state of affairs as much as you like, but before you say that the king is dead, you need to at least remotely see some hint of it, pathetic isolated victories in individual games mean literally nothing.

Europe is dying. Just because teams such as England, France and Spain are surviving, it doesn't mean that situation is healthy in the overall region. Look at teams such as Danmark, Italy, Netherlands, Belgium and Sweden. These teams used to be among the top. Where are they now? Many of these teams are going to miss the boat to 2026 World Cup. The rise of Asia and Africa is unstoppable. We have new teams such as Uzbekistan, Jordan, Cape Verde and Ivory Coast qualifying for the world cup. And in another two editions (by 2034?) the world cup itslef will be dominated by the AFC and CAF teams. 

Aaah, ok, you're trolling, that's why I didn't understand your previous message, now I get it, my bad! It's ok to laugh sometimes but in general this is a serious thread, I'm not sure if there is a comedy section in this forum, maybe you could ask for one so we can laugh all together!

[Adiljutt156]

Guys, does anyone believe that Brazil can win the 2026 World Cup or at least be among the top four?

As a Brazilian, I'm quite discouraged and don't have the courage to bet on Brazil the way they've been playing.
Even with Ancelotti, the team still seems to be struggling to find its footing, and each game gets more difficult because the time is running, less than a year to the cup and other teams are way better, like Argentina, Spain, France...

You are absolutely right. Most of the fans judge a team by their stats . World Cup winning is not easy for any team and there are many teams who could do better in the football World Cup because government is interested in that and they are giving support to the players.Brazil football team did well against good teams and they have good respect in the public and fans are supporting them but there are many other teams which are playing well and players are working on back end and they are looking hundred percent fit . I like Argentina team because that team has good defenders who always play important role for the team.

[slapper]

I'm afraid I won't see anything funnier today.
Europe is the undisputed king, CONMEBOL is the prince, everyone else is just furniture and scenery against which the main action takes place.
You can be offended by the actual state of affairs as much as you like, but before you say that the king is dead, you need to at least remotely see some hint of it, pathetic isolated victories in individual games mean literally nothing.

Europe is dying. Just because teams such as England, France and Spain are surviving, it doesn't mean that situation is healthy in the overall region. Look at teams such as Danmark, Italy, Netherlands, Belgium and Sweden. These teams used to be among the top. Where are they now? Many of these teams are going to miss the boat to 2026 World Cup. The rise of Asia and Africa is unstoppable. We have new teams such as Uzbekistan, Jordan, Cape Verde and Ivory Coast qualifying for the world cup. And in another two editions (by 2034?) the world cup itslef will be dominated by the AFC and CAF teams. 

  If you're writing this seriously, you should be performing in a circus. You haven't reached the level of a stand-up comedian, but as a clown you can delight the audience.
European teams are exactly where they were - on the throne, the fact that sometimes one European team can be displaced by a good generation of another European team (Iceland, Norway, Greece, North Macedonia, etc.) does not change the balance of power in the world.
You can set any timeframe, even the year 2400, but throughout our lifetime we will see the dominance of Europe (+CONMEBOL) under the leadership of European coaches and performed by players who play mainly in Europe.

Mate, that Europe forever argument is a confident one but it is premised on an old assumption. The data doesn't really back it up any more really. Sure, the trophies are still controlled by UEFA + CONMEBOL, but the form of control is shifting. See what is going on under the score board:
- The middle class in Europe has collapsed. Sweden can’t beat Kosovo. Italy lives on play-offs once more
- At the same time Morocco has only recently made a semi, and Asia had three R16 teams last world cup
- Forty five percent of African starters and thirty plus percent of Asian starters are currently playing in the top five leagues in Europe

The throne of Europe is still there, all right, but it has been hollowed out in the middle. The disorder below is expanding, not contracting. The following decade will not be Europe vs the rest. It will look like "Europe's export network vs Europe's own fatigue"

[Ale88]

Mate, that Europe forever argument is a confident one but it is premised on an old assumption. The data doesn't really back it up any more really. Sure, the trophies are still controlled by UEFA + CONMEBOL, but the form of control is shifting. See what is going on under the score board:
- The middle class in Europe has collapsed. Sweden can’t beat Kosovo. Italy lives on play-offs once more
- At the same time Morocco has only recently made a semi, and Asia had three R16 teams last world cup
- Forty five percent of African starters and thirty plus percent of Asian starters are currently playing in the top five leagues in Europe

The throne of Europe is still there, all right, but it has been hollowed out in the middle. The disorder below is expanding, not contracting. The following decade will not be Europe vs the rest. It will look like "Europe's export network vs Europe's own fatigue"

I'm sorry but I see some cherry picking in your post:
- Sweden lost against Kosovo, so? Is it the first time we see the underdogs winning a match? I don't think so;
- The Italian team is going through some rough years, the players are not so good as they used to be but the youth teams are doing great things, so there is hope for the future. And Italy are going to the playoffs just because they lost ONE match; in other parts of the world you qualify losing 6 matches, so...
- Morocco did a wonderful World Cup back in 2022, many times we see some teams surprising the whole world during the WC but then they fail to maintain that level for the following years;
- All 3 Asian teams (considering Australia Asian because of the Federation) reached the Round of 16 and lost, none of them made it through. For sure Japan and South Korea improved a lot since they hosted the WC back in 2022, their growth is impressive but they never really made it that far in the recent World Cups. I admire a lot Japan and I even cheer for them but they're still missing something.
- Many African and Asian players play in Europe, that's true, but their national teams are not good enough to beat all the European and South American teams they may find on their path.

The point is that Europe usually has always at least 4-5 big teams depending on the generations (Spain, France, Germany, England, Netherlands, Italy, Portugal and even Belgium) and in South America you have for sure Brazil and Argentina, and then Uruguay, so let's say 2-3 teams, what does the rest of the world have? We already mentioned Japan and South Korea because they are getting consistent results, what else? African teams are highly inconsistent because where is Nigeria? Where is Egypt? Where is Senegal? Cameroon? Ivory Coast? Ghana? They can play very well in one edition and then maybe they don't even qualify for the next one. Middle Eastern teams like Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Iran, etc usually never go through the group stage.

I don't know where some of you see all this shift in the football world.

[Sithara007]

Mate, that Europe forever argument is a confident one but it is premised on an old assumption. The data doesn't really back it up any more really. Sure, the trophies are still controlled by UEFA + CONMEBOL, but the form of control is shifting. See what is going on under the score board:
- The middle class in Europe has collapsed. Sweden can’t beat Kosovo. Italy lives on play-offs once more
- At the same time Morocco has only recently made a semi, and Asia had three R16 teams last world cup
- Forty five percent of African starters and thirty plus percent of Asian starters are currently playing in the top five leagues in Europe

The throne of Europe is still there, all right, but it has been hollowed out in the middle. The disorder below is expanding, not contracting. The following decade will not be Europe vs the rest. It will look like "Europe's export network vs Europe's own fatigue"

Agreed. Morocco's qualification to World Cup semi-final was earth shattering. Europe's dominance in international football comes primarily from the leagues such as EPL, La Liga and Ligue 1. But increasingly, non-European leagues such as the Saudi Professional League are giving tough competition to the European ones. But it is a slow process and it takes time for the progress made at grass-roots to be reflected as success at international level. That is why I said 2034 edition will be a proper metric.

[imamusma]

Mate, that Europe forever argument is a confident one but it is premised on an old assumption. The data doesn't really back it up any more really. Sure, the trophies are still controlled by UEFA + CONMEBOL, but the form of control is shifting. See what is going on under the score board:
- The middle class in Europe has collapsed. Sweden can’t beat Kosovo. Italy lives on play-offs once more
- At the same time Morocco has only recently made a semi, and Asia had three R16 teams last world cup
- Forty five percent of African starters and thirty plus percent of Asian starters are currently playing in the top five leagues in Europe

The throne of Europe is still there, all right, but it has been hollowed out in the middle. The disorder below is expanding, not contracting. The following decade will not be Europe vs the rest. It will look like "Europe's export network vs Europe's own fatigue"

I'm sorry but I see some cherry picking in your post:
- Sweden lost against Kosovo, so? Is it the first time we see the underdogs winning a match? I don't think so;
- The Italian team is going through some rough years, the players are not so good as they used to be but the youth teams are doing great things, so there is hope for the future. And Italy are going to the playoffs just because they lost ONE match; in other parts of the world you qualify losing 6 matches, so...
- Morocco did a wonderful World Cup back in 2022, many times we see some teams surprising the whole world during the WC but then they fail to maintain that level for the following years;
- All 3 Asian teams (considering Australia Asian because of the Federation) reached the Round of 16 and lost, none of them made it through. For sure Japan and South Korea improved a lot since they hosted the WC back in 2022, their growth is impressive but they never really made it that far in the recent World Cups. I admire a lot Japan and I even cheer for them but they're still missing something.
- Many African and Asian players play in Europe, that's true, but their national teams are not good enough to beat all the European and South American teams they may find on their path.

The point is that Europe usually has always at least 4-5 big teams depending on the generations (Spain, France, Germany, England, Netherlands, Italy, Portugal and even Belgium) and in South America you have for sure Brazil and Argentina, and then Uruguay, so let's say 2-3 teams, what does the rest of the world have? We already mentioned Japan and South Korea because they are getting consistent results, what else? African teams are highly inconsistent because where is Nigeria? Where is Egypt? Where is Senegal? Cameroon? Ivory Coast? Ghana? They can play very well in one edition and then maybe they don't even qualify for the next one. Middle Eastern teams like Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Iran, etc usually never go through the group stage.

I don't know where some of you see all this shift in the football world.

It is understandable, that countries from the Asian and African regions have indeed experienced rapid development, which at a glance has changed the competitive map. However, the fact is, based on the latest FIFA rankings, no team from the Asian and African regions is included in the top ten. This means that the dominance in football will continue to be led by countries from the European and American regions. However, it is not impossible that the shift will become clearer in the future, especially with the World Cup format now having been changed.
Throughout the history of the World Cup, only South Korea and Morocco have ever managed to reach the semi finals from the non European and American regions. Italy may eventually manage to secure a ticket to the 2026 World Cup, even if they have to struggle through the play off path.
Source : https://inside.fifa.com/fifa-world-ranking/men

[armanda90]

Losing out on World Cup qualification for the third time in a row is truly mortifying, especially when you are the strongest national team in that group.
So I fully understand the words of coach Gattuso, who unfortunately inherited a situation that is not easy to manage.

Its truly disappointed if Italy national team fail again qualifying to World Cup as bigger national team have been failed two time in a row, currently finish as top standings position at Group I of World Cup Qualifier almost difficult although have two matches left regarding three points remaining and Italy loss goal productivities from Norway. I think what said by Italy team manager fully true as top national team difficult for participating at World Cup.
Italy national team have two qualifying matches left against Moldova and Norway, in other side Norway will face Estonia and likely will not loss three points for this match. Indeed can get three points by defeating Norway at last games qualifying match I think Italy have fight hard trough playoff round match if want qualifying to World Cup 2026

[Rikafip]

Unfortunately, Italy is not having much luck in this regard.
We have some prestigious players, but we haven't managed to qualify for the World Cup in a long time.
Once again, we are not doing badly in the qualifiers, but unfortunately Norway has not lost a single match so far.
I don't know! Maybe we are just unlucky.

You are a little bit unlucky. You were top seeded team, and on paper Norway was one of the weakest teams from Pot 2, but they just keep kicking the asses this qualifications.

Spain and France are strongly focused on young players, and England and Germany are doing much the same. Italy, on the other hand, prefers to focus on established players! I wonder why!

Imho, its not a problem if you still have a lot of older palyers as long as you performing good. But to have older team and on top of that not performing good, that's indeed a problem.

The point is that Europe usually has always at least 4-5 big teams depending on the generations (Spain, France, Germany, England, Netherlands, Italy, Portugal and even Belgium)

You forgot Croatia. 

[Rampagoe004]

Losing out on World Cup qualification for the third time in a row is truly mortifying, especially when you are the strongest national team in that group.
So I fully understand the words of coach Gattuso, who unfortunately inherited a situation that is not easy to manage.

Its truly disappointed if Italy national team fail again qualifying to World Cup as bigger national team have been failed two time in a row, currently finish as top standings position at Group I of World Cup Qualifier almost difficult although have two matches left regarding three points remaining and Italy loss goal productivities from Norway. I think what said by Italy team manager fully true as top national team difficult for participating at World Cup.
Italy national team have two qualifying matches left against Moldova and Norway, in other side Norway will face Estonia and likely will not loss three points for this match. Indeed can get three points by defeating Norway at last games qualifying match I think Italy have fight hard trough playoff round match if want qualifying to World Cup 2026

I see the Italian national team has failed to lose many key players or top class players who are able to compete with other teams. They want to qualify for the World Cup, of course they have to work hard to win the remaining matches. Actually, it is not difficult for a top team to participate in the World Cup but they have other obstacles in the team such as experienced players and also team cohesion that is starting to decrease.

Moldova and Norway both will not be easy to beat in this year's playoffs and let's see who will be on the list at the 2026 World Cup, there are definitely several new teams that have qualified first.

[*Ace*]

Unfortunately, Italy is not having much luck in this regard.
We have some prestigious players, but we haven't managed to qualify for the World Cup in a long time.
Once again, we are not doing badly in the qualifiers, but unfortunately Norway has not lost a single match so far.
I don't know! Maybe we are just unlucky.

You are a little bit unlucky. You were top seeded team, and on paper Norway was one of the weakest teams from Pot 2, but they just keep kicking the asses this qualifications.

Spain and France are strongly focused on young players, and England and Germany are doing much the same. Italy, on the other hand, prefers to focus on established players! I wonder why!

Imho, its not a problem if you still have a lot of older palyers as long as you performing good. But to have older team and on top of that not performing good, that's indeed a problem.

The point is that Europe usually has always at least 4-5 big teams depending on the generations (Spain, France, Germany, England, Netherlands, Italy, Portugal and even Belgium)

You forgot Croatia. 

I would say we have been quite unlucky. Losing the first head-to-head match against Norway has been decisive so far. And now only a miracle could save us and give us direct qualification for the World Cup! Norway would need to earn just one point in their last two matches, or they would need to lose their head-to-head match against Italy by at least nine goals.

[Ale88]

You forgot Croatia. 

Yes, my bad for forgetting about Croatia! That is another European team that despite the small population has been obtaining incredible results, you guys are the same as Uruguay is for South America. In Italy there is a saying "nella botte piccola c'è vino buono", which can be translated as "in the small barrel, there's the good wine"

[Mate2237]

You forgot Croatia. 

Yes, my bad for forgetting about Croatia! That is another European team that despite the small population has been obtaining incredible results, you guys are the same as Uruguay is for South America. In Italy there is a saying "nella botte piccola c'è vino buono", which can be translated as "in the small barrel, there's the good wine"

Croatia really has a very good league which has produced some very important players for any them, some are playing in some of Europe best teams, football is not about how big or even small a country is it's about the system that you have built that will work and croatia is one team that has done that. Going into next year world cup I see them doing very great again.


Next year world cup will be interesting to watch because,we will be seeing a lot of small unknown countries that were not known before. Countries like Cape Verde will be very happy to take their countries flag to the global soccer piece in the USA.

[bitcoin_mining]

Guys, does anyone believe that Brazil can win the 2026 World Cup or at least be among the top four?

As a Brazilian, I'm quite discouraged and don't have the courage to bet on Brazil the way they've been playing.
Even with Ancelotti, the team still seems to be struggling to find its footing, and each game gets more difficult because the time is running, less than a year to the cup and other teams are way better, like Argentina, Spain, France...

You are absolutely right. Most of the fans judge a team by their stats . World Cup winning is not easy for any team and there are many teams who could do better in the football World Cup because government is interested in that and they are giving support to the players.Brazil football team did well against good teams and they have good respect in the public and fans are supporting them but there are many other teams which are playing well and players are working on back end and they are looking hundred percent fit . I like Argentina team because that team has good defenders who always play important role for the team.

I am a Brazilian supporter but I never judge my team by the World Cup trophy. I have no problem accepting that Brazil has not been performing well recently because by my logic or argument the team I support cannot perform well or win the World Cup. It is very likely that Brazil last qualified for the semi-finals in 2014 but then they were eliminated in the quarter-finals of the 18th and 22nd World Cups, but this does not really go with a team like Brazil. Until now, Brazil fans have claimed that the team has done so badly due to the lack of a good manager in their team, but now Brazil has appointed one of the best managers in their club, so at least Brazil should do well now. The issue is not that Brazil does not have good quality players, of course Brazil has good quality players and they are performing great in various famous clubs in Europe, so the main thing is that the manager must bring all these best players of Brazil together and use them well, only then can Brazil do well in the next World Cup.

[Iamgoat]

Why big teams like Germany, England, France, and Spain can survive to compete in the 2026 World Cup? I think they have maintained their noble consistency since the beginning of qualifying and have also finished in the top 8 almost every time they participate in the World Cup.
The rise of Asia and Africa could provide a new and exciting atmosphere with new teams like Uzbekistan, Jordan, and Cape Verde.
Let's see if they can defeat the European group leaders.

As a matter of fact I think Africa has been losing it tournament after tournaments with the lack of consistent performance most of the country teams have faced over the years. The so called rise of Africa and Asia you mentioned is more of a talk on the surface which is far from the reality for now. Gone are those days when the big African and Asian countries used to shake the world stage when countries like Nigeria, Egypt, Ghana, Tunisia and Algeria used to show intense hunger and passion to bring the trophy home and Asian Countries like Japan and South Korea were leading the continents but one thing has killed these country teams is lack of consistency and technical discipline which is something the South Americans and European teams had. Teams like Brazil, Spain, Germany and France have been consistently leading the world cup competitions because their football systems run like a machine with structures and discipline such as youth academies, strong leagues, tactical evolution and serious investments in the management of the teams.

[giorgione]

Why big teams like Germany, England, France, and Spain can survive to compete in the 2026 World Cup? I think they have maintained their noble consistency since the beginning of qualifying and have also finished in the top 8 almost every time they participate in the World Cup.
The rise of Asia and Africa could provide a new and exciting atmosphere with new teams like Uzbekistan, Jordan, and Cape Verde.
Let's see if they can defeat the European group leaders.

As a matter of fact I think Africa has been losing it tournament after tournaments with the lack of consistent performance most of the country teams have faced over the years. The so called rise of Africa and Asia you mentioned is more of a talk on the surface which is far from the reality for now. Gone are those days when the big African and Asian countries used to shake the world stage when countries like Nigeria, Egypt, Ghana, Tunisia and Algeria used to show intense hunger and passion to bring the trophy home and Asian Countries like Japan and South Korea were leading the continents but one thing has killed these country teams is lack of consistency and technical discipline which is something the South Americans and European teams had. Teams like Brazil, Spain, Germany and France have been consistently leading the world cup competitions because their football systems run like a machine with structures and discipline such as youth academies, strong leagues, tactical evolution and serious investments in the management of the teams.

There are many teams that are doing very well in various international competitions, they are coming up well, and just this morning the case of Morocco which turned out to be the best U20 team in the world, this makes us understand that the world of football is changing and that other continents can also do very well.

[snipie]

There are many teams that are doing very well in various international competitions, they are coming up well, and just this morning the case of Morocco which turned out to be the best U20 team in the world, this makes us understand that the world of football is changing and that other continents can also do very well.

Morocco has a good U20 but also the original team is excellent and reached the 4th place in Qatar World Cup so I cannot say that the world of football is changing because of that example. In fact african or asian players don't stay fit for a long time and they drop rapidly their performance at the opposite of the european nations or even south american ones, the performance of the players stay good for a longer time. So when you mix older and more experienced players with younger and talented ones, nations like Brazil, Argentina and France appear to be the best, without forgetting that a team like France is a multinational team collecting the best of the best from every country mostly from Africa.