Oh no,The European football is struggling at the world cup, Oh, the horror!

[Z-tight]

Europe will not always dominate; even though they are dominating currently, I strongly believe that a time will come when Africa will win the World Cup because with every World Cup there is a clear observation of steady progress that African teams are making.

I don't have a crystal ball to see the future, but i believe we are very far from that happening. Morocco did very well in the 2022 World Cup, making it to the Semi Final, but in the 2026 world cup, they couldn't make it past the quarter Final, so they were unable to improve on their last performance.

Only two continents have won the world cup (Europe and South America) since its inception. And they are the only continents still represented in this tournament, so that is how 'easily' they have been dominating the competition and i expect it to continue.

[lovesmayfamilis]

It's obvious that Europe will always dominate the World Cup in terms of having many national teams going far, at least until the day other continents have leagues better than Europe's. In the past, Brazil and Argentina are currently the only teams that can at least take the World Cup title away from the Europeans.

Europe will not always dominate; even though they are dominating currently, I strongly believe that a time will come when Africa will win the World Cup because with every World Cup there is a clear observation of steady progress that African teams are making.

We are not there yet, but we will get there.

Something is bound to happen sometime. Fans have the right to dream and support their idols. But it's not a fact that we will be witnesses. But speaking of Europe and Africa, it's quite difficult to compare now. If someone could analyze the entire training of the European teams, their medical care, their training camps, and, of course, their financial capabilities, then I'm sorry, Africa is not worth it here. Therefore, yes, it's not harmful to dream, but for now, Europe✌️, we need to accept it.🤷‍♀️

[SportbetOne]

If someone could analyze the entire training of the European teams, their medical care, their training camps, and, of course, their financial capabilities, then I'm sorry, Africa is not worth it here. Therefore, yes, it's not harmful to dream, but for now, Europe✌️, we need to accept it.🤷‍♀️

You are totally right about the huge gap in infrastructure and funding. The irony is that the best African players end up moving to European leagues to get that exact level of training anyway. Raw talent can come from anywhere, but Europe just has the money and facilities to actually polish it.

[stompix]

Well, the statement about European football struggling at the world cup isn't completely wrong. Italy didn't even qualify for the World Cup finals,

I fail to understand how Italy getting beaten by other European teams makes European football weaker!
If your wife starts making more money than you, your family gets poorer?

Well accepted and taken but the fact is still standing for itself that African teams do well from the start of every game. African teams are no longer push away easily. I can't remember if an African teams lost by 4 or 5 goals at this tournament, none. In fact, most loses were as a result of late minutes loss of concentration. African teams will keep getting better at the world stage.
If the economy and financial propriety of Africa continent can improve like her football then other continent will not stand up to them at the world stage.

Oh god, this again!

Morocco's 26-man squad includes six players born in France: Redouane Halhal, Gessime Yassine, Samir El Mourabet, Neil El Aynaoui, Issa Diop and Ayyoub Bouaddi. Although all six were born in France, their family roots are in Morocco.

6 playes of the Moroccan team were born in France, they have spent all their life in France, they have trained with the U-16 and U-21 France team, they have never come in contact with all the things you blame African football for.

Look at Mbaye, who plays for Senegal:

Ibrahim Mbaye[2] was born on 24 January 2008 in Trappes, Yvelines, Île-de-France region, Northern France
Mbaye started his youth career in 2013 at ES Guyancourt before joining Versailles in 2015.
In 2018, at the age of 10, he joined the Paris Saint-Germain Academy.
In the 2023–24 season, while aged 16, Mbaye helped the PSG under-19s achieve victory in the Championnat National U19 play-offs,
At the 2024 Montaigu Tournament, he helped the France under-16s achieve victory while picking up the award for the competition's best player.
He was part of the France under-18s that finished third in the 2024 Lafarge Foot Avenir.

What is Senegalese about him? Lol!
How would Senegal improving its economy make him play better?   

[KTChampions]

So it's time to bring up this topic again 

So, in the game between the European champion and the American champion, the American champion failed to make a single shot on target, and it seems the whole strategy was to wait for the penalty shootout 
Argentina showed themselves to be lumberjacks, whiners, malingerers, but not football players. They were extremely lucky, however, as the score was only 1-0 in Spain's favour and extra time was needed.

So, what do we have? Argentina got to the final thanks to an incredibly easy path. What other good non-European team do we have? Morocco were good, who else? I can't name a single team that was truly good and could compete with the Europeans, and I remember the time when Uruguay with Forlán could beat anyone, and now Brazil is losing to Norway.

[Fivestar4everMVP]

So basically what all the stats are saying... nothing changed overall, just the names making the stats!  

I laughed a lot when I read comments saying that Europe was doing badly in this World Cup; people thought the Europeans were going to fail. Unfortunately, they forget that the best football leagues are in Europe and that the best players from most national teams play in Europe, which shows Europe's great dominance in football.

It's obvious that Europe will always dominate the World Cup in terms of having many national teams going far, at least until the day other continents have leagues better than Europe's. In the past, Brazil and Argentina are currently the only teams that can at least take the World Cup title away from the Europeans.

I never argued about Europe's dominance in world class football, they are simply the best and I believe no one who loves to tell him or herself the truth will argue about that.
And the truth is that someone who is weak and wishes to get better would first start by knowing his weakness and accepting it, this is how he or she can begin looking for solutions that could possibly help him get better..

In all those threads created africa getting better and advancing and all, my comments have always pointed out one thing, and that is that African footballer can never be better than the Europeans until we start to maybe copy how those European countries invest so much capture and train their players while they are still very young and vibrant, unlike Africa where a 40 years old man will be playing as under 18 or under 20, it's really absurd and this one reason why African football is struggling, it's all about under-investmemt and under-development, if this things can be fixed, african, has the potential to challenge a European country in a world Cup final.

[Synchronice]

There was a thread about how European football is declining (the first one quoted in this thread) and I posted that just because a few European teams got kicked out, it still doesn't mean that it has declined. Anyways, Spain showed that they are on another level and no one matches their level. We saw Norway performing well, which we haven't seen before too, it's worth to be mentioned too. African teams are getting better too but Europe still dominates football. Maybe Italy and Germany aren't at their best but look at Spain, England and France, they are on another level, especially Spain.

Football can't decline in Europe because it was born here and most importantly, Europe is the most advanced continent for football in every way: culturally, technologically, knowledge-wise and so on.

[Smartprofit]

In my opinion, everything could decline over time... Yes, European football is currently on the rise, and Spain's victory at the World Cup confirmed this. However, everything could change by the next World Cup. 🙋

Currently, Europeans are actively investing in culture, education, and sport, but in four years, economic priorities could shift. Perhaps in four years, Europeans will invest more in the militarization of the economy and in digital systems for monitoring public behavior than in football. And the World Cup will be won by teams from North and South America, as well as Africa. Everything flows, and everything changes, such is the law of life...

Currently, European football teams are undoubtedly at the peak of their form, their player development system is impeccable, and European leadership in football is undeniable. We'll see what happens in four years. Lately, I've often wished that nothing in the world would change. Because change mostly brings negativity. But change happens, and there's nothing I can do about it.🤷

[dzonikg28]

It's obvious that Europe will always dominate the World Cup in terms of having many national teams going far, at least until the day other continents have leagues better than Europe's. In the past, Brazil and Argentina are currently the only teams that can at least take the World Cup title away from the Europeans.

Europe will not always dominate; even though they are dominating currently, I strongly believe that a time will come when Africa will win the World Cup because with every World Cup there is a clear observation of steady progress that African teams are making.

We are not there yet, but we will get there.

Something is bound to happen sometime. Fans have the right to dream and support their idols. But it's not a fact that we will be witnesses. But speaking of Europe and Africa, it's quite difficult to compare now. If someone could analyze the entire training of the European teams, their medical care, their training camps, and, of course, their financial capabilities, then I'm sorry, Africa is not worth it here. Therefore, yes, it's not harmful to dream, but for now, Europe✌️, we need to accept it.🤷‍♀️

lovesmayfamilis has a point here because what's more is that the jump in the FIFA ranking from 20 to 10 is much easier than the jump from 10 to 5 and let alone 5 to top 3 and then 1. Morocco has done very well for a while now, but only because they are doing well and make progress, doesn't mean they are ready to win a World Cup. Europe is so far ahead, South America is struggling except for Argentina and their win in 2022.

I don't know if there was a betting option offering odds for the continent that was going to win the World Cup 2026, but I think it would have probably been around 1.3 perhaps? France, Spain, England. Those three teams alone would push the odds to significant lows like 1.3. Maybe it was a little bit higher because of Argentina. I remember that the odds for Brazil were bad anyway.

[Pandu Geddon]

Football can't decline in Europe because it was born here and most importantly, Europe is the most advanced continent for football in every way: culturally, technologically, knowledge-wise and so on.

We all know that European clubs are also the places most football players want to have their careers. We know we can see great players playing for European clubs. The competition between players is quite fierce, and that forces player qualifications and abilities to keep improving. 
Europe is more advanced in any aspect related to football. We can’t ignore that. And most sports bettors also enjoy the competitions in the European leagues.

[jeremypwr]

Sarcasm detected and it didn't matter as Spain was victorious
For a while I was rooting for a team from Africa to win cause I like to see underdogs pull through every now and then

[Lucius]

~snip~
Currently, Europeans are actively investing in culture, education, and sport, but in four years, economic priorities could shift. Perhaps in four years, Europeans will invest more in the militarization of the economy and in digital systems for monitoring public behavior than in football. And the World Cup will be won by teams from North and South America, as well as Africa. Everything flows, and everything changes, such is the law of life...

When you say currently it seems like they haven't done it before, which is completely incorrect. I won't say that someone can find the perfect balance between investing in everything that is important to society, but you should know that there is a difference between financing with public and private money, and big clubs are mostly privatized.

The EU currently has priority in strengthening the defense capabilities of national armies, so the budget for 2025 of all members reaches €418 billion, and €450+ billion is predicted for this year.

For comparison, the top EU football clubs had a revenue of around €30 billion in 2025.

[Rubuchi]

Sarcasm detected and it didn't matter as Spain was victorious
For a while I was rooting for a team from Africa to win cause I like to see underdogs pull through every now and then

that was my favorite too. My support from initial was not to see any of these popular names win the World Cup this year but at the same time I was also skeptical about their games knowing well enough that it will be a very difficult thing to happen in the world of football right now for an African team to win for two major reasons, one of the reasons why I think it will be a bit difficult is because the African teams have this mentality of playing very well from start but at some point it looks like they are demotivated along the way and their performance begin to decline gradually until they lose that momentum they’ve built earlier.
Secondly, they are not seen as the FIFA favorites at least not for now, so unless you have an unbiased referee who is very honest and diligent with his job, else you will be surprised how they are not favored by the referees and sometimes to the extent of being biased and unjust to them during officiating of their games particularly to top national teams in the competition.

[Smartprofit]

~snip~
Currently, Europeans are actively investing in culture, education, and sport, but in four years, economic priorities could shift. Perhaps in four years, Europeans will invest more in the militarization of the economy and in digital systems for monitoring public behavior than in football. And the World Cup will be won by teams from North and South America, as well as Africa. Everything flows, and everything changes, such is the law of life...

When you say currently it seems like they haven't done it before, which is completely incorrect. I won't say that someone can find the perfect balance between investing in everything that is important to society, but you should know that there is a difference between financing with public and private money, and big clubs are mostly privatized.

The EU currently has priority in strengthening the defense capabilities of national armies, so the budget for 2025 of all members reaches €418 billion, and €450+ billion is predicted for this year.

For comparison, the top EU football clubs had a revenue of around €30 billion in 2025.

Of course, European countries have long been actively investing in sports, culture, and education. That's why such an effective system for training football players was created. 🙋

Creating something requires a huge amount of effort (but it can be destroyed quickly and easily). However, rising defense spending is a bad sign and doesn't bode well for the future. Theater director Stanislavsky once said, "If a gun hangs on the wall in the first act of a play, it's sure to go off in the third." I don't know what kind of world awaits us in 2030, but I don't rule out the possibility that by 2030, everyone on the European continent will have stopped caring about football and will be interested in completely different things... Perhaps I'm being overly pessimistic, but so far I don't see much reason for optimism.

I'm used to living one day at a time and enjoying life when I can. And, of course, I really enjoyed watching the European teams play at the World Cup (I especially enjoyed Spain's performance).⚽

[Lucius]

~snip~
Creating something requires a huge amount of effort (but it can be destroyed quickly and easily). However, rising defense spending is a bad sign and doesn't bode well for the future. Theater director Stanislavsky once said, "If a gun hangs on the wall in the first act of a play, it's sure to go off in the third." I don't know what kind of world awaits us in 2030, but I don't rule out the possibility that by 2030, everyone on the European continent will have stopped caring about football and will be interested in completely different things... Perhaps I'm being overly pessimistic, but so far I don't see much reason for optimism.

For ordinary people, football is just a game, for some others it is a very profitable business, but if you cannot ensure peace and security, then football or any other sport has no meaning. There is no bad sign here, it's just that we finally came to the realization that we should start taking care of our own safety.

They say that football is the most important secondary thing in the world, and I don't believe that will change overnight - although realistically football is very low on the popularity scale in some parts of the world.

[Yabani]

Sarcasm detected and it didn't matter as Spain was victorious
For a while I was rooting for a team from Africa to win cause I like to see underdogs pull through every now and then

With the current economics of football, a champion team will never emerge from Africa; it will always be from Europe or South America.
In fact, I cannot recall a champion coming from outside these two continents.
Football holds a prominent place in Europe. As for South America, without Brazil and Argentina, it would be impossible for the other nations to achieve success. Uruguay does have two World Cup titles, but those date back to the 1930s. In the changing landscape of football, it is highly unlikely for a champion to emerge from anywhere other than these two continents.

[Alpha Marine]

Europe will not always dominate; even though they are dominating currently, I strongly believe that a time will come when Africa will win the World Cup because with every World Cup there is a clear observation of steady progress that African teams are making.

I believe a time will come when an African or Asian team will win the World Cup, but as for who will be dominant, Europe will always be dominant. An African country winning the World Cup does not mean Europe is no longer dominant. Just as a South American country winning the World Cup does not mean Europe is no longer dominant.

As long as European club football continues to remain dominant and their countries continue to remain the best in the world in terms of football, then Europe will reamain dominate.
As other regions are improving, so also the Europeans are improving and even at a better rate. Europe has a foundation in football. They don't send their players abroad to get better. Almost every good player today either went to an academy in Europe or moved to Europe to get a name for themselve.
You can't compete with that kind of system when all your best players go to that competitor to get better.

[Synchronice]

Football can't decline in Europe because it was born here and most importantly, Europe is the most advanced continent for football in every way: culturally, technologically, knowledge-wise and so on.

We all know that European clubs are also the places most football players want to have their careers. We know we can see great players playing for European clubs. The competition between players is quite fierce, and that forces player qualifications and abilities to keep improving. 
Europe is more advanced in any aspect related to football. We can’t ignore that. And most sports bettors also enjoy the competitions in the European leagues.

Yes, European clubs are the clubs where most football players want to play but Spanish football clubs are the top destination, I want to especially highlight two clubs, FC Barcelona and Real Madrid. It's a dream for almost every football player to play in these clubs. Just look, the fact that Messi was playing in Barcelona is a huge motivator for any player to move in this club, nothing to talk about the history of this club itself. I can say the same on Real Madrid too.

Saudi tries to move football from EU to Saudi but they'll fail. Recently, I see that there is a competition between US and Saudi in terms of moving football from Europe to their own countries but they'll fail. Football is deep embodied in European countries.

[stompix]

In my opinion, everything could decline over time... Yes, European football is currently on the rise, and Spain's victory at the World Cup confirmed this. However, everything could change by the next World Cup.

Have you actually read the statistics in the first post?

When you say currently it seems like they haven't done it before, which is completely incorrect. I won't say that someone can find the perfect balance between investing in everything that is important to society, but you should know that there is a difference between financing with public and private money, and big clubs are mostly privatized.
The EU currently has priority in strengthening the defense capabilities of national armies, so the budget for 2025 of all members reaches €418 billion, and €450+ billion is predicted for this year.
For comparison, the top EU football clubs had a revenue of around €30 billion in 2025.

Well, I think those two are well to different and shouldn't even be used to describe differences, that's how far apart they are.
Not that some indeed are private and some public spending, but those sums in Clubs' revenue are really starting to look like people trading NFTs, some of them have squads valued at 5x times their gross annual revenue...the whole thing starts to look more and more like a Ponzi scheme.

You can't compete with that kind of system when all your best players go to that competitor to get better.

Why do I have to repeat this?
There are more players right now born in Europe, trained in Europe, that compete for Africa than ever, soon enough they will outnumber African-born players born in Africa that play in European national clubs.

[7788bitcoin]

Well, the statement about European football struggling at the world cup isn't completely wrong. Italy didn't even qualify for the World Cup finals,

I fail to understand how Italy getting beaten by other European teams makes European football weaker!
If your wife starts making more money than you, your family gets poorer?

Glad to see we're finally talking about actual football.

When traditional teams like Italy fail to perform in continental tournaments, it drags down the overall ranking points and that directly affects how many automatic qualification spots the region gets; consequently, it affects the quality of the Champions League. One team winning because another got worse doesn't mean the overall baseline standard grew; it just means the ceiling got lower.

If Europe's elite teams like Italy are in decline, the continent will eventually lose its dominant slot allocation in the World Cup to rising regions in South America and Africa.