​MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. (AP) — More teams, same World Cup story. This edition began with 48 teams and has now whittled down to eight, six of them from Europe. Unless Morocco orchestrates a string of upsets in the final two weeks, the champion will likely come from Europe or South America. It’s a familiar pattern, as it always has been. The World Cup, born in 1930, has been staged 22 times; champions have come from Europe 12 times and from South America 10 times, with the rest of the globe posting zero combined titles. This year’s quarterfinal lineup mirrors that history: six teams from Europe, one from South America, one from Africa. It’s not a bracket that defies tradition.
Yet there’s a sense that even Europe’s elite players are surprised by how smoothly this World Cup has unfolded. After Norway’s Erling Haaland scored twice to push his team past Brazil and into the quarterfinals—the first time Norway has reached that depth in a World Cup—he admitted he didn’t think certain feats were possible, then added, “I guess I’m wrong.” He was right in a positive way. The hosts, on the other hand, have found things more challenging than expected.
North America came to the party with three hopefuls on a larger-than-ever 48-team World Cup, with the United States, Mexico, and Canada co-hosting. None of the trio advanced to the quarterfinals. “We need to get over that next hurdle,” U.S. star Christian Pulisic said in a post-match interview after the Americans were eliminated by Belgium in the round of 16, a 4-1 defeat that underscored how much ground North America still has to cover. “Trying to compete and beat the world’s best is our next step … There’s still another step that we have to take.”
The hosts had a strong group stage and a favorable round of 32, combining for a 9-2-1 record and outscoring opponents by 20 goals. From there, the dream began to fade. In the round of 16, England defeated Mexico 3-2, the United States were overwhelmed by Belgium in a one-sided affair, and Canada were downed 3-0 by Morocco. The trio collectively went 0-3-0 in the knockout round, being outscored by seven goals. French soccer great Thierry Henry, serving as Fox analyst, remarked on the shift: “Level changes. The World Cup is different in the group stage. The Round of 32 didn’t exist before. Everyone made history in the Round of 32. It never existed before … Unfortunately, one host, two hosts, three hosts, out. That’s exactly what you don’t want at a World Cup. That is annoying for me.” If the annoyance is palpable for Henry, imagine how Canadians, Mexicans, and Americans must feel.
There hasn’t been a CONCACAF—the Confederation of North, Central America and Caribbean Association Football—team in the World Cup knockout round in a way that satisfies those defending the region’s prestige. The 2022 edition highlighted the uphill climb for North American teams to consistently compete with Europe and South America on football’s grandest stage, and this year’s results only reinforced that reality. As the tournament moves toward its conclusion, the focus remains on whether North America can translate group-stage momentum into meaningful progress in the knockout rounds, or whether the region will continue to see its teams stumble at the final hurdle.