9781422278291

Almost every country in the world today has a national soccer team. This team is the one that attempts to qualify for the World Cup tournament every four years. In almost every one of these countries, the national team is a tremendous source of national pride, and its exploits are closely followed. In the vast majority of countries, however, just qualifying for the World Cup is a significant accomplishment. Most countries have never sent a team to the tournament. Many have qualified only a single time, like Jamaica in 1998, for example. That team never won a single match, or even scored a single goal, but is still revered in the country just for making it to France that year. Then there are those countries where World Cup qualification is expected every four years, and not qualifying would be a national scandal. Fans book trips to the host nations well in advance of their team qualifying with the full expectation that they will be cheering them on come tournament time. In these countries, failing to qualify will likely get managers fired and the usual players left off future teams. On the top rung of this ladder of expectations are the teams that not only expect to qualify every four years but also believe they should win the World Cup each and every time. These countries are World Cup royalty, and they produce some of the best players in the world. Not qualifying is not even a consideration. Failing to advance beyond the first round would be a travesty and result in people being fired. Anything less than a semifinals berth would be unacceptable, and not making the final match might well be considered a failure. There are four countries that operate under this standard for every World Cup: Argentina, Brazil, Germany, and Italy. All have had at least five semifinal appearances and have won multiple World Cups. Most of the greatest matches in World Cup history involve at least one of these teams, and their players have produced some of the most memorable moments in the history of the sport.

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