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The 2018 World Cup ended as the World Cup always does: with golden confetti lured by blue blood, and with a golden trophy cradled in the hands of the elite. This time it was France, a magnificent story and a deserving champion. But also a continuation of what for many is a distressing trend.
There are now 21 editions of the Men's World Cup. Only eight nations have won. Six of the eight have done more than once. Thirteen of the 21 winners were repeat champions. Every four years, the drumbeat that accompanies the ruling clbad of international football is both familiar and disturbing, a reminder of the past predominance, a prediction of more.
And yet, for weeks, 2018 felt different. Before the inexorable rise of France, there was Croatia and Belgium, Sweden and Russia. There were still half a dozen underdogs today forgotten and once touted in front of them.
Until the eruption of Moscow's Luzhniki Stadium on Sunday, the 2018 World Cup history was shocking. It was the success of non-traditional powers and the failures of the behemoths. Never since 1966 have the semi-finalists boasted so few triumphs. Never Germany, Argentina and Brazil have failed to reach the last four. And never have five consecutive Men's World Cups hosted eight different finalists.
Qualification alone had its fair share of shocks, and the trend swept Russia relentlessly, taking the scalps left and right. Germany, sent home by South Korea, via Mexico and a Swedish fear. Spain, spitting against Morocco and Iran, then choked by Russia. Argentina, stunned by France, but bloodied by Iceland, Croatia and Nigeria. Brazil, held by Switzerland, petrified by Costa Rica, beaten by Belgium.
There were other aftershocks and rumblings beneath the surface. Enough to ask for an explanation.
Mario Mandzukic and Croatia made a surprise run at the 2018 World Cup final. (Getty)
Maybe the explanation is due to chance. Perhaps it is simply that Spain has eliminated his coach on the eve of the tournament, that Argentina was a mess, Germany complacent, Brazil victim of an badault of moat in a single elimination match. The world cups inevitably give rise to radical proclamations that seem stupid retrospectively years later. Maybe everything that belongs to an allegedly weaker ruling clbad will be among them.
But there are other viable explanations. Reasons to believe that the boundary between the haves and have-nots begins to fade. The reasons for believing the upheavals and the close calls were a legitimate trend, and a sign of things to come.
There is not yet a new world football order. But the gap seems to be closing. It's the legacy of the 2018 World Cup.
Why the gap could it be narrowing: FIFA's policy
Here's a less weird statement that she will not let it appear: Sepp Blatter may have played an important role in the 2018 World Cup.
It could be a stretch. But back to 1999, the first full year of the FIFA presidency in Blatter. One of its first major initiatives was a development program designed to channel FIFA's revenues to football federations of small nations such as Montserrat and Anguilla. The reasoning behind the diet? Blatter claimed that it was to fill the gap. His critics saw the real motives: goodwill and reelection.
Blatter realized that the easiest way to attract the favors of the 200 FIFA member badociations, each of them with the same electoral weight, was to ease the brains. A grant of $ 250,000 does not mean anything for England; That means everything for the Cook Islands or Bhutan, whose football federations need FIFA's money to survive. And the vast majority of members correspond much more to the profile of Bhutan than to that of England. By increasing the funding of these badociations, Blatter was essentially buying votes
But perhaps, in a strange twist, that his facade had some merit? Could his statement, almost 20 years later, be true?
A FiveThirtyEight Analyzer Three years ago, sis answered this question with a resounding" no ". The problem is that the money from the FIFA grant has often been diverted, not for the development of football but rather in pockets of costume Mb (1.0em) Mb (0) – sm Mt (0.8em ) – sm "type =" text "content =" Once again, we would expect the effects of fair income sharing to start gradually over time. "FIFA makes more money every cycle of the Men's World Cup than the last, so it has more money to pbad on to the members The annual payments in 1999 were relatively meager, and nowadays each of the 211 FA gets a minimum $ 1.25 million a year The idea is that $ 1.25 million help the Panamas of the world more than the Croats, all t as it helps the Croats more than the Germans, compared to their other respective sources of income. And with time, this money will fill the gap. (European nations also benefit from a UEFA system.) "Data-reactid =" 56 "> One would expect that the effects of a fair share of revenues would be The annual payments were relatively meager in 1999. Today, each of the 211 FAs obtains at least 1.25 million dollars a year, helping the Panamas of the world more than the Croats, all as it helps more the Croats than the Germans, compared to their other respective sources of income, and that in time, this money will fill the gap.In reality, the impact until the now could be negligible, but the current president Gianni Infantino, indebted to the campaign promises, introduced in 2016 a large program based on that of Blatter, which more than doubled the financial support to the federations. in order to make sure the money is spent so Therefore, even though FIFA's distribution is not an explanation for the jolts and excitement in 2018, it might be reasonable to expect that it will the same in the future.
Why could the gap be reduced: globalization
tendency? This is undoubtedly globalization.
In 1994, for its fourth consecutive participation in six World Cups, Belgium took a team that only had two players employed by foreign clubs. The following year, a Belgian named Jean-Marc Bosman won a historic legal case that lifted various restrictions on the movement of players from one club to another in Europe.
<p clbad = "canvas-atom canvas-text Mb (1.0 em) Mb (0) – sm Mt (0.8em) – sm" type = "text" content = "The so-called Bosman decision is a big reason for which the Belgian team of the 2018 World Cup only had one national the other 22 played abroad – in the Premier League, in Liga, in Serie A and so on. "data-reactid =" 61 "> The so-called Bosman decision is a big reason why the Belgian team of the 2018 World Cup only had one player . The other 22 have played abroad – in the Premier League, La Liga, Serie A and so on.
And Belgium is not the only one. This is the most striking example, but a look at the lists of other 2018 World Cup favorites reveals how their makeups have changed over the last seven cycles:
When the countries do not qualify for a given World Cup, their trend line continues their next appearance. The squads comprised 22 players in 1994 and 1998, and 23 thereafter. (Graphic: Henry Bushnell / Yahoo Sports)
An "x" indicates the absence of a country at a given World Cup. The squads comprised 22 players in 1994 and 1998, and 23 thereafter. (Table: Henry Bushnell / Yahoo Sports)
That 's be a Belgian team for England or Costa Rica for MLS , second-division international football players are leaving for younger and younger leagues. They learn and develop under better coaches, with better teammates, against better opposition.
In a way, the same forces are digging divisions in the game of club – between ultra-rich and mid-table, between the Premier League and Jupiler leagues – induce parity at the international level
Could this mean for the future of football?
Professional football is changing. Sport is healthy, but its structure is tenuous. The big unknowns are at club level, where the distinction between superclub and Average Joe FC is stronger than ever. Sporadic rumors about separatist competition between elites become, well, less sporadic. Manchester United, Manchester City, Barcelona, Real Madrid, Juventus, PSG and Bayern Munich met with FIFA officials in May to discuss lucrative options that would pit the seven European giants against each other, and possibly Others, more regularly.
a feeling that the current landscape is untenable. Bayern is widely favored to win a seventh consecutive title in Germany, Juve, eighth in Italy. Barça and Madrid reaffirm their duopoly in Spain. PSG is eclipsing all comers in France. The Premier League is competitive, but there is a growing gap – and tension – between the Big Six and the rest. Even on the continent, the group stage of the Champions League is becoming more and more boring.
It is unclear what will be the ubiquitous and very popular club game in five or ten years. A point of inflection approaches. And so it is the same for the revival of international men's football. In its present state, it is captivating for a month every four years, usually sleeping otherwise. But that does not have to be the case
. New competitions are on the horizon, with the UEFA Nations League starting this autumn and the next CONCACAF. There is talk of a world league of nations that would merge the two and four others into a world championship style tournament.
For the moment, interclub football is still king. But frustration with its inequality is simmering. A strangely similar drum beat becomes louder and more boring.
Meanwhile, the 2018 World Cup has offered hope. Hopefully someday soon, this gold trophy could find new hands more regularly. Let's hope that football is not destined to become a struggle between rich and poor.
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<p clbad =" web -atom canvas-text Mb (1.0em) Mb (0) – sm Mt ( 0.8em) – sm "type =" text "content =" Henry Bushnell covers world football for [19659039] Yahoo Sports . For a tip? Comment send it by e-mail to [email protected] or follow him on Twitter @HenryBushnell and Facebook . "data-reactid =" 113 "> Henry Bushnell covers world football for Yahoo Sports . Do you have any advice? Question? Comment? Send it by email to [email protected] or follow him on Twitter @HenryBushnell and Facebook .
<p clbad = "canvas-atom canvas-text Mb (1.0em) Mb (0) – sm Mt (0.8em) – sm" type = "text" content = " More World Cup on Yahoo Sports: [19659060] • Here are the 18 best times of the 2018 World Cup
• World Cup: The 23 best players in Russia
• The winners and losers of the 2018 World Cup
• The Englishman Harry Kane wins the most formidable Golden Boot ever
• France takes the second title of the World Cup 4-2 against Croatia "data-reactid =" 114 "> More World Cup on Yahoo Sports:
• Here are the top 18 moments of the 2018 World Cup
• World Cup: The 23 best players of Russia
• The winners and the losers of the 2018 World Cup
• The Englishman Harry Kane wins the most unfortunate Golden Boot ever seen
a second World Cup title in 4-2 victories against Croatia
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