What’s behind six European teams in World Cup quarterfinals
5 min readJul 8, 2026 01:29 PM IST European teams don’t generally do too well in FIFA World Cups in the Americas. Germany’s triumph in Brazil in 2014 has been the only instance of any of them going all the way to the title across the Atlantic. But with six of the eight quarterfinalists in the 2026 edition coming from Europe, the odds of a team from that continent lifting the trophy on July 19 may be bright, even though Morocco and Lionel Messi’s Argentina may have other ideas. In fact, only twice has a European team won the World Cup outside its own continent – Spain won in South Africa in 2010 – but the balance of power in international football has shifted over the last couple of decades and it has only been Argentina that has been flying the flag for the rest of the world. Norway and Switzerland are not even traditional European powerhouses, but they are among the last eight while Brazil, Uruguay and Colombia are not. ALSO READ | FIFA …
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