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

[CryptSafe]

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?

The last time I checked, there are more of the African players in European clubs, and that has helped a lot to shape African football because African players who play for European club sides are now used to the football patterns and styles of Europe, and they also play with the European players on the same team, so they know better their football patternsand how to tackle them on the pitch. So I believe this also contributed to the performances of the African teams in this World Cup tournament.

[nikola22]

I wouldn't say European football is in decline. it's worth noting improved level of many other national teams, particularly African ones. many leading players from African, South and North American national teams are playing in the top, highly competitive European leagues. thus, they are improving their level and the level of their national teams which are now competing almost on equal terms with Germany, England and other football giants.

[Wakate]

You don't have to worry about how so many big countries that are known for professional football players are losing their position to elimination which is not fair at all. I don't blame anyone for that but it's a must a team have to be eliminated depending on their performance on the pitch. I have the optimism that France may end up winning the 2026 world cup if their composure on the pitch is undefeated.

[Yorubek]

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?

The last time I checked, there are more of the African players in European clubs, and that has helped a lot to shape African football because African players who play for European club sides are now used to the football patterns and styles of Europe, and they also play with the European players on the same team, so they know better their football patternsand how to tackle them on the pitch. So I believe this also contributed to the performances of the African teams in this World Cup tournament.

With the change of time, there have been many changes in the way African teams play, we can see it in the World Cup. As you say, it is absolutely right that African players are playing football for European clubs day by day, as a result, the quality of their play has changed relatively a lot. That is why African teams are performing very well with big teams in the World Cup. Due to the involvement of African players in European clubs, the quality of their play is gradually improving and its effect will help African teams become much stronger in the future.

[hyudien]

I wouldn't say European football is in decline. it's worth noting improved level of many other national teams, particularly African ones. many leading players from African, South and North American national teams are playing in the top, highly competitive European leagues. thus, they are improving their level and the level of their national teams which are now competing almost on equal terms with Germany, England and other football giants.

I love the development of football on these continents, especially Africa. Now, quite a few countries are participating from there, and their strength shouldn't be underestimated. Morocco and Senegal are the main forces representing Africa, and one of them could potentially go far. There are quite a few quality players from Africa. Unfortunately, Nigeria, which should have participated due to its strong squad, couldn't represent Africa.

[danadc]

It's not in decline, but the reason European teams lose so often is perhaps because they go out there overconfident, and football is growing so much worldwide. People aren't even afraid of them anymore; everyone plays in a World Cup because they want to win the cup, to beat the best. That's possible, and that's the players' mentality. That should be the mentality too; there can't be any other. That's why the European teams have been eliminated. Today, Congo got tired, but if they had held on to the 1-0 lead, they would have knocked out Germany.

[DiMarxist]

European teams are still dominating the world cup, that is evident in the way most of the teams that made it to the knockout stage of the competition has performed. Going into the last sixteen I think that the European teams are going to be dominant and dictate play. Most of the countries that you mentioned that are in decline are only having problems planning and execution which has to do with having the right manager. Some of them have old players who can't compete and needs a total rebuilding of their squads. European teams are the best performing teams so far this world cup.

[Rubuchi]

You don't have to worry about how so many big countries that are known for professional football players are losing their position to elimination which is not fair at all. I don't blame anyone for that but it's a must a team have to be eliminated depending on their performance on the pitch. I have the optimism that France may end up winning the 2026 world cup if their composure on the pitch is undefeated.

this world cup only further shows to me the diversity in football. Football is one game where you can just use the name of your team you have built to beat another team. This world cup shows that even if you are a revered team, in as much as you don't perform well in a particular game, there are high chances you won't survive the heat the next team will give you. I like how fearless and revolutionary football is becoming. No any team in this world cup can boast of sure win simply because they are facing a lesser team. Some finish gasping for air while in a worse case, vein lashed by the other team.

[alegotardo]

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?

First of all, do not talk about south-american teams as if they is a surprise contenders or a merely supporting characters in this tournament... first because Brazil is the most successful nation in FIFA World Cup history with five titles. Second.... because Argentina came into the 2026 edition as the reigning world champion after winning the 2022 tournament. And there is a third point... south-americans has won a total of ten titles through Brazil, Argentina and Uruguay. So, historically speaking, Europe is not nearly as dominant as South America

Another point is about African teams, in the previous edition had already demonstrated their technical quality and determination, so to this year I was not expecting anything less. In fact, I have been surprised to see so many African teams eliminated in the recent matches.

Overall, I do not think the issue is the European teams are declining, but rather the rest of the world has improved significantly.... the football as a whole has evolved tremendously and become much more balanced, so you would not place too much blame on the European teams.

[Satofan44]

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 an interesting situation because you need to look at this from a financial point of view. The quantity of money that is being spent on soccer collectively in those European countries compared to the money that is invested in countries that have won against them is massive, it is incomparable. Despite all that funding which leads to a significantly better comprehensive opportunity to generate better players, they have failed this time significantly. We could have more understanding of outliers if an individual country or two failed unexpectedly, but we have seen this happen with many countries now so we can push away the ideas of exceptions. It will be interesting to see how this plays out this time and especially in the next Cup, because the results of that one would serve as stronger evidence that this is not a temporary thing.

[Daniel91]

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 an interesting situation because you need to look at this from a financial point of view. The quantity of money that is being spent on soccer collectively in those European countries compared to the money that is invested in countries that have won against them is massive, it is incomparable. Despite all that funding which leads to a significantly better comprehensive opportunity to generate better players, they have failed this time significantly. We could have more understanding of outliers if an individual country or two failed unexpectedly, but we have seen this happen with many countries now so we can push away the ideas of exceptions. It will be interesting to see how this plays out this time and especially in the next Cup, because the results of that one would serve as stronger evidence that this is not a temporary thing.

I think there are several factors at play. Take the example of Italian football, the national team that failed to qualify for the World Cup for the third time in a row.
The Italian Football Federation has money but no clear plan and vision on how to get Italian football out of its long-standing crisis.
Italian club football is also in a major crisis of play and results.
The leaders of the game are foreign players and young players are not properly prepared and do not get the opportunity to play in clubs and the national team.
Italian football is too slow and boring.
German football is practically reduced to 1 club, Bayern, Dutch football is also in crisis, etc.
All this is reflected in the European national teams when they enter the world stage, the world championship.
With the exception of France and Spain, European football cannot compete with the best teams in the world.

[meser#]

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?

Italian league has been in decline in recent years, and this negative trend is also reflected in the national team.
Denmark, Serbia, and Turkey are not among the countries that regularly qualify for the World Cup.
Sixteen teams from Europe participated; although some have been eliminated, a European team will ultimately win the World Cup again.
At best, Brazil and Argentina might reach the semi-finals. Currently, France is the strongest contender for the title.
Football in Europe is not in decline; in fact, yesterday both Belgium and England advanced to the next round by turning around matches in which they had fallen behind.

[Outhue]

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?

Does it matters? How about countries that are well known for elimination in early rounds? What have the done? No one is invisible to failure or loss, it's a game and anything is bound to happen, even the best football countries like Brazil among few others do fail at times too, this is why it's called a game.

I thought England won the match a day ago? What you are trying to prove here isn't necessary, stop making it look like European soccer is on decline for some reasons, what you played or how you performs is all that determine your results.

[sompitonov]

I often see similar matches in the playoffs, where the underdog team scores first in the first half, but then everything changes in the second half, and the time remaining is shorter, increasing the likelihood of a draw or victory. This happened against Germany, but they lost on penalties, as did the Netherlands and England, who managed to snatch victory in the end, but all these matches are very similar. There's a fight there, and even the underdogs aren't going to give up a single centimeter on the field. In any case, I don't see those European teams that crushed everyone before them. Perhaps the other teams have grown in skill and tactics; football seems to have leveled out and isn't that much of a skew. Although it's worth noting that the French look like the German machine of 10 years ago.

[stompix]

I started to have a strong feeling like soccer in Europe is facing miserable problems with African countries dominating along with South American countries.

Is this domination in the same room with us?
To dominate means to actually win stuff!

Group stage winners:
CONCACAF  : 2
Europe: 7
South America: 3
Africa 0

Teams winning all their matches:
CONCACAF : 1
Europe: 1
South America: 1
Africa 0

Teams currently passing the r32 (we exclude Europe on Europe games)
Europe 3 losses, 3 wins (+1 game between them)
CONCACAF 3 wins , 0 losses
South America 2 wins 1 loss
Africa 1 win 4 losses!!!!

Where is this domination?

[swogerino]

Well apart Germany that screw up in the most unexpected way the other teams are doing well relatively from Europe as we have them qualified for next round like England, Belgium and France to name a few. Also I think today Spain will most probably qualify against a strong Austria team so far and that solidifies the positions of the European teams. In fact looking like things are I can confidently say that one of the finalists team of this World Cup will be probably from Europe.

[jeremypwr]

I don't think European soccer is on the decline.
Just because there are many big names facing elimination in early rounds does not mean it will remain like that once club football resumes.
WC is a tournament where anything can happen; even the most unpredictable outcomes.

[TedMosby]

France, Belgium, Norway, England, and at least two more European teams will move on to the next round. If Switzerland qualifies for the next round, there would be 7 European teams in the round of 16. It's already almost half of the total teams in the round of 16. IMO, by looking at these numbers, European football is still showing its domination in the World Cup.

Your statement was probably based on seeing favorite teams like Germany and the Netherlands being knocked out at the same time, or Spain and Portugal drawing against teams like Cape Verde and DR Congo. You just didn't count other less favored teams like Norway, which I personally think could be the next Belgium with their current golden generation.

What I agree more is Carlo Ancelotti's statement. He once said that the gap between strong and weaker teams in modern football has narrowed significantly.

[maydna]

Anything can happen and if they are not lucky to beat the opponent, they will lost the position, that is my thoughts this time. The world cup has many surprises to us and unpredicted because we see African teams can pass to the next match. Perhaps the situation on the field makes the team can't facing the form of extremely high humidity and temperatures. But I guess there are more reason why they failed to win their opening matches.

[avp2306]

I don't think European soccer is on the decline.
Just because there are many big names facing elimination in early rounds does not mean it will remain like that once club football resumes.
WC is a tournament where anything can happen; even the most unpredictable outcomes.

Yeah right its not the best word to use out there.

We have seen the competition is so though and provably the best word to use to describe about those situation happening is the competition on European Soccer became so though and now many teams and players made great adjustment. Then this make the league or each game more exciting to watch.

Lots of unpredictable result show up and this is good because many people would provably see that each game is fun to watch, because we don't know which team are going to win.