Is European soccer on decline? Many big names facing elimination in early rounds

[swogerino]

Not really as long as we still have France and Spain going strong, yes we had Netherlands and Germany out which were big surprises for everyone but they were eleminated from penalties shootout which is a lottery as they say. Yesterday we had France performing really well against Sweden and I expect the same from Spain in their upcoming knockout stage, also England looks like is doing well so personally I don't see any decline in European football, quite the opposite I see them going much further in this World Cup.

[Iranus]

Not really as long as we still have France and Spain going strong, yes we had Netherlands and Germany out which were big surprises for everyone but they were eleminated from penalties shootout which is a lottery as they say. Yesterday we had France performing really well against Sweden and I expect the same from Spain in their upcoming knockout stage, also England looks like is doing well so personally I don't see any decline in European football, quite the opposite I see them going much further in this World Cup.

We know that Europe is very strong  in football. At the same time, they are very rich. So the expectations are high on  these teams. But germany and the Netherlands were eliminated very  quickly. It is really sad.

Germany was eliminated against paraguay. This is a South american team. We have seen that Paraguay performed  quite well. But the result of the Netherlands  was even more unexpected. They lost against Morocco. Morocco even won the match by dominating. African football now seems to be much  better than before.

[Daniel91]

It is true that some big European teams, like Germany and the Netherlands, have been eliminated from the World Cup, but I wouldn't call it a surprise, but rather the current reality of these two teams.
For Germany, this result is even progress, because they were eliminated in the group stage of the last two World Cups.
Italy has not played in the last three World Cups, so that is no longer a surprise, but a real indicator of the great crisis of Italian football.
On the other hand, France has been champion once in the last two World Cups and played in the final once, and they are playing very well in this World Cup.
8 years ago we had 3 European teams in the semi-finals, and 4 years ago 2 teams.
In this World Cup, apart from France, I think that Spain and England still have a chance for a good performance and result, so there is no point in rushing to conclusions about the crisis of European football, it is more about the crisis of individual European teams, like Germany and Italy.

[retreat]

What are your thoughts on this?

This World Cup has been so unpredictable. Some big teams that were predicted to advance to the next round ended up being eliminated by opponents whose quality was lower than theirs. But this is football, so many things can happen. On paper, you could say that these teams are big and should be able to compete, but the reality on the field can be different—teams we consider superior, like those strong European teams, could be eliminated earlier—but that doesn't indicate that the quality of European football is declining, it's just that the World Cup competition has become more unpredictable. Moreover, there are still European representatives competing, so it can still be said that they are still very competitive.

[Gozie51]

What are your thoughts on this?

I don't think the European teams are declining. What you have to consider is the quality or record of those who have advanced and those who have been eliminated so far. Usually, the best teams have higher chances of staying back when it matters most.

Alright lets look at the teams from Europe, how many they are and which of them have been eliminated. They were 16 in number namely Switzerland , Belgium, Norway, Croatia, England, Austria , Portugal, France, Spain, Germany, Netherlands, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Scotland, Turkey Sweden and Czechia. Three out of them left at the group stage which are Sweden, Czechia and Turkey. At the round of 32, another three has left: Germany Norway and Scotland. So they are left with 10 so far which is still a good number.

But my point is that out of those 6 European countries that have left, how many of them have good world cup record that would have made an impact at the tougher stage of the competition like semi final and final because that is important to say that Europe has missed the record carrying or breaking teams.

Now, if not for Germany who is a fourth time champions, the rest of the teams that have left have been runner up Sweden and Czechia at a time when football has not gone into such a digital stage like 6,7,8 decades ago when football was still in medieval age.

Driving home my view is that, they have only missed Germany which is a great contender of the tournament anytime any day. And maybe Czechoslovakia or....

At least they still have France and Spain in the tournament.

[EarnOnVictor]

What are your thoughts on this?

My fair thought is that you are overthinking it. First, being a big name doesn't mean a big country, and "a tree cannot make a forest." A single big name or two, or should I call it exceptional talent in a whole country squad cannot make much impacts.

Besides, Europe continues to live up to their standard with no decline, IMO. Presently, we have 25 countries left and Europe is 10 of them (Croatia, Belgium, France, Spain, England, Portugal, Norway, Switzerland, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Austria). Is that not overwhelming?

[Fortify]

Italy, Denmark, and Serbia are out of this World Cup. After them, Turkey and the Czech Republic are out of action in group stage games. Their performances were not as expected and last night Germany and the Netherlands also facing surprising eliminations from the round of 32 on penalties.

In upcoming games, a few teams are also going to face possible elimination with this level of performance.
Now, it looks like European soccer is facing serious troubles.

Even there are plenty of teams are still in and have a good chance of winning the title like France, England, and Spain but I started to have a strong feeling like soccer in Europe is facing miserable problems with African countries dominating along with South American countries.
 
What are your thoughts on this?

There's always a host nation advantage and this tournament has 3 host nations who have all got through. Combine that with a larger team format and it is inevitable there will be plenty of upsets. However this tends to happen in most tournaments purely because there are so many strong European nations competing, so naturally you will see them drop out. We are getting into the last few rounds now so competition will be tough, it was a surprise to see that a couple of these teams were knocked out at the penalty stage - maybe they are more vulnerable to pressure when it comes to player Vs player instead of the whole team. There will always be fluke tournaments though, it'll be interesting to see who the winner ends up being, as there are a few underdogs.

[Smartprofit]

The defeat of the football teams of Italy, Serbia, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands, and the Czech Republic is a fait accompli.🙋

Why did this happen? The first explanation that comes to mind is the crisis in European football, linked to the rapidly aging population of this geographic region. These football teams are indeed dominated by older players (this is obvious).

These teams' defeat can also be explained by the new World Cup rules. There are more football teams, more chaos on the field, and the outcome of games has become less predictable...

At the same time, it should be noted that European football favorites like France and Spain haven't gone anywhere. They are still ready to play, score goals, and win matches. The same goes for the football teams of Brazil and Argentina.💁

[Slow death]

Those European teams that didn't qualify, and those that failed to qualify, have been having problems for some time now; it's not a recent issue, so it's no surprise that they were eliminated. But that doesn't mean Europe is weak, because Europe has other teams that are taking the places of the European teams that didn't perform well. Take Norway as an example; they've been doing well, they're from Europe. Look at Belgium and Portugal; in the past, you would have seen Germany, the Netherlands, and Italy. But today it's Portugal, Belgium, and Norway that have replaced the Netherlands, Italy, and Germany.

[Africolo]

Italy, Denmark, and Serbia are out of this World Cup. After them, Turkey and the Czech Republic are out of action in group stage games. Their performances were not as expected and last night Germany and the Netherlands also facing surprising eliminations from the round of 32 on penalties.

In upcoming games, a few teams are also going to face possible elimination with this level of performance.
Now, it looks like European soccer is facing serious troubles.

Even there are plenty of teams are still in and have a good chance of winning the title like France, England, and Spain but I started to have a strong feeling like soccer in Europe is facing miserable problems with African countries dominating along with South American countries.
 
What are your thoughts on this?

This is soccer for you where you see the unimaginable and unbelievable events take place that's why you can't underestimate any team in the world cup, I was so surprised to see Netherlands eliminate Germany from the world cup though it ended in extra time which we all know at that point it's a 50/50 chances for any team to win. I'm really proud of the African countries because of their performances to scale through the group stages into the round of 32  except for Tunisia that was knocked out of group stages, as it stands South African is eliminated at round 32 which is encouraging.

European soccer can't be seen as declining because other leagues has gone to establish their leagues and are doing very well, Japan is one of those teams that did well and would have eliminated Brazil if not that Brazil has to belt up and won at last minutes,  big names doesn't determine success without working hard on the pitch so many other big names might face possible elimination at round 16 if they don't belt up and perform well.

[rdluffy]

All the national teams have improved significantly
The overall level has risen sharply, practically every team have players from major clubs, especially European ones who have extensive experience in big tournaments

The fact that FIFA allows players to choose between up to four different national teams has also helped shape a very different scenario

Italy is arguably the biggest disappointment in European football, given their absence from the World Cup
However, overall, I believe that thanks to the increased number of slots available, African and South American teams are holding their own well against the Europeans

[KTChampions]

Italy, Denmark, and Serbia are out of this World Cup. After them, Turkey and the Czech Republic are out of action in group stage games. Their performances were not as expected and last night Germany and the Netherlands also facing surprising eliminations from the round of 32 on penalties.

In upcoming games, a few teams are also going to face possible elimination with this level of performance.
Now, it looks like European soccer is facing serious troubles.

Even there are plenty of teams are still in and have a good chance of winning the title like France, England, and Spain but I started to have a strong feeling like soccer in Europe is facing miserable problems with African countries dominating along with South American countries.
 
What are your thoughts on this?

It's too early to draw conclusions, especially based on the round of 32 (which never existed at World Cups before). So far, only one team stands out: France. The others may be playing well too (Mexico, for example), but it's too early to judge because the level of their opponents isn't that high, plus some teams prefer to play rationally rather than flashily (Spain, for example). We'll see what the picture is like by the semi-finals, although unfortunately, even to this stage of the competition, the path looks easy for some teams.

[michellee]

Maybe the situation change and making African teams superior than other teams so they can beat their opponents. That is surprises to fans and commentator because they see the rising of African teams beating the European teams. But African teams will face stronger team in the next matches so that will not easy for them to go deeper. If they can perform better than before, African teams will have a chance to beat the next opponents but other teams will gives their best performance when meet African teams.

[Doan9269]

Football is an unpredictable game and this is why those you don't even expect to be eliminated gods evicted out of the race and those you never thought people have made it as still on the Play, discount with surprises and this is getting more exciting as well, because events like this causes for more discussions about the FIFA world cup, these are part of what makes it more interesting because you discovered that it is not by Fame or the name, but what each team has to contribute in playing well along the way, I can see some African countries are performing well in the likes of Morocco and Tunisia together with Senegal, we should not also be surprised if the winner of this year world cup will come from Europe.

[Lucius]

Italy, Denmark, and Serbia are out of this World Cup. After them, Turkey and the Czech Republic are out of action in group stage games.
~snip~

Why do you think Serbia is a big name when it comes to European football? Besides, the situation in their country and football in general is so bad that they are losing to opponents like Cape Verde.

As for other countries, maybe the players are just too tired after a demanding season? UEFA just invents new competitions and pushes players to their limits, so it's no wonder that some teams no longer have the strength for such a tough competition.

[reagansimms]

Several teams from Europe are still able to maintain their best performance, while several other teams such as Italy, Denmark and Serbia lost in the European zone qualifying round. The failure of big teams in the World Cup like Germany and the Netherlands is not because they played badly, but the increasing strength of teams from Africa and South America has changed the competitive landscape on the football stage, this proves that global football is becoming more competitive and equal.

Teams like Paraguay and Morocco have demonstrated strong mental toughness, as seen in their dramatic penalty shootout victories against European giants like Germany and the Netherlands. This determination is often the deciding factor in knockout tournaments. Most of the new generation of African and South American teams play in elite European clubs, bringing back to their national teams experience, professional standards and world-class tactical understanding, thereby further narrowing the quality gap with European teams. I am very happy with this situation because football has developed overall, making it an increasingly interesting and unpredictable spectacle.

[bakasabo]

I went to wikipedia to check which countries are presented on this tournament, and among 48 teams, 16 are European. Nearly each third team is European. When they get eleminated during group stage and knockout stage, it is more noticeable that European teams are either going further or end their participation, while rest are completely World mix. To knockout stage 11 European countries have advanced among 32 countries. So far same 1/3 are Europeans. So I cant say there is a great decline for European soccer.

[rdluffy]

...
As for other countries, maybe the players are just too tired after a demanding season? UEFA just invents new competitions and pushes players to their limits, so it's no wonder that some teams no longer have the strength for such a tough competition.

It’s not only UEFA issue, there have already been a few injuries on the Brazilian side

Raphinha and Lucas Paquetá have already been injured during the tournament
Casemiro felt some pain in his leg

In addition, there was Wesley, who wasn’t even called up for the World Cup because of an injury

On top of all that, there were also Éder Militão, Rodrygo, and Estêvão, who would likely have been called up but weren't due to injuries at their clubs

[fuguebtc]

Those European teams that didn't qualify, and those that failed to qualify, have been having problems for some time now; it's not a recent issue, so it's no surprise that they were eliminated. But that doesn't mean Europe is weak, because Europe has other teams that are taking the places of the European teams that didn't perform well. Take Norway as an example; they've been doing well, they're from Europe. Look at Belgium and Portugal; in the past, you would have seen Germany, the Netherlands, and Italy. But today it's Portugal, Belgium, and Norway that have replaced the Netherlands, Italy, and Germany.

European football is really deteriorating. A team like Italy has not even qualified for the World Cup. Italy has a fiercely competitive league like Serie A. Even then, their national team has not improved much. Rather, it is deteriorating day by day.

Germany and the Netherlands were considered one of the favorites for this World Cup. But both of these teams were eliminated in the Round of 32. This was completely unexpected. At least I thought I would see these two teams reach the quarter-finals.

Norway, Belgium and Portugal are doing well, that's right. They have a lot of talent and star players. But we are not seeing the expected good performance from them. With so many star players, they should perform better.

[Swordsoffreedom]

I went to wikipedia to check which countries are presented on this tournament, and among 48 teams, 16 are European. Nearly each third team is European. When they get eleminated during group stage and knockout stage, it is more noticeable that European teams are either going further or end their participation, while rest are completely World mix. To knockout stage 11 European countries have advanced among 32 countries. So far same 1/3 are Europeans. So I cant say there is a great decline for European soccer.

The statistics may not yet say that football in Europe has deteriorated. But this is true. We don't see a renowned team like Italy in the World Cup. This year's World Cup also has a maximum of 48 teams participating compared to any previous World Cup.

No one thought that the Netherlands and Germany would be eliminated in the knockout round. The opponent was not very strong either. However, these two powerful teams have already departed. England are fighting hard to win against Congo. They just managed to equalize the match. But against a team like Congo, they should have dominated and won. European teams are full of star players. Compared to that, their performance is not satisfactory at all.