Re: [nas] Haydon column

The table below is interesting for a few things - yes Virginia, the US does have a better overall recordc (25th overall) in the finals than Scotland, Canada is not the worst overall ( Yeah ;-) I'd always assumed we were - disconcerting though that half of the worst six are from CONCACAF) and finally that most important number in brackets (titles won).

 

Will the US win a World Cup - never is a long time - so the answer is undoubtedly yes, but as the table shows this is one of the most difficult titles in sport to win only seven winners ever and only five of those more than once.  Will the US win one before England wins another possibly - personally I don't think so.  I think Spain, France , Holland and possibly even Turkey or Nigeria also would have slightly shorter odds.

 

Having said all this the US has made tremendous strides in the past quarter century in fact the country has probably improved more than any other in the same time frame but as for winning the World Cup I'd guess 2014 or 2018 as opposed to 2006 or 2010.  Assuming they host in 2014 I might even make them favourites.

 

Bill

 

All-Time World Cup Soccer Records

TEAM (TITLES)      MATCHES    W   L   T     GF    GA
----               -------    -   -   -     --    --
Brazil (5)            87     60  13  14    191    82
Germany (3)           85     50  17  18    176   106
Italy (3)             70     39  17  14    110    67
Argentina (2)         60     30  19  11    102    71
England (1)           50     22  13  15     68    45
France (1)            44     21  16   7     86    61
Spain                 45     20  15  10     71    53
Russia                37     17  14   6     64    43
Yugoslavia            37     16  13   8     60    46
Hungary               32     15  14   3     87    57
Uruguay (2)           40     15  15  10     65    57
Sweden                42     15  16  11     72    64
Netherlands           32     14   9   9     56    36
Poland                28     14   9   5     42    36
Austria               29     12  13   4     43    47
Czechoslovakia        30     11  14   5     44    45
Belgium               36     10  17   9     46    63
Mexico                41     10  20  11     43    79
Romania               21      8   8   5     30    32
Denmark               13      7   4   2     24    18
Portugal              12      7   5   0     25    16
Chile                 25      7  12   6     31    40
Croatia                7      6   4   0     13     8
Switzerland           22      6  13   3     33    51
USA                   17      6  14   2     25    45
Turkey                10      5   4   1     20    16
Paraguay              19      5   7   7     25    34
Cameroon              17      4   6   7     15    29
Nigeria               11      4   6   1     14    16
Peru                  15      4   8   3     19    31
Scotland              23      4  12   7     25    41
South Korea           21      4  12   5     19    49
Costa Rica             7      3   3   1      9    12
Northern Ireland      13      3   5   5     13    23
Colombia              13      3   8   2     14    23
Bulgaria              26      3  15   8     22    53
Senegal                5      2   1   2      7     6
East Germany           6      2   2   2      5     5
Algeria                6      2   3   1      6    10
Norway                 8      2   3   3      7     8
Ireland               13      2   4   7     10    10
Japan                  7      2   4   1      6     7
Morocco               13      2   7   4     12    18
Saudi Arabia          10      2   7   1      7    25
Tunisia                9      1   5   3      5    11
South Africa           6      1   2   3      8    11
Wales                  5      1   1   3      4     4
North Korea            4      1   2   1      5     9
Cuba                   3      1   1   1      5    12
Iran                   6      1   4   1      4    12
Ecuador                3      1   2   0      2     4
Jamaica                3      1   2   0      3     9
Honduras               3      0   1   2      2     3
Israel                 3      0   1   2      1     3
Egypt                  4      0   2   2      3     6
Kuwait                 3      0   2   1      2     6
Bolivia                6      0   5   1      1    20
Australia              3      0   2   1      0     5
Dutch East Indies      1      0   1   0      0     6
Iraq                   3      0   3   0      1     4
Slovenia               3      0   3   0      2     7
United Arab Emirates   3      0   3   0      2    11
New Zealand            3      0   3   0      2    12
Haiti                  3      0   3   0      2    14
Canada                 3      0   3   0      0     5
China                  3      0   3   0      0     9
Greece                 3      0   3   0      0    10
Zaire                  3      0   3   0      0    14
El Salvador            6      0   6   0      1    22

----- Original Message -----

From: Kevin Lindstrom

To: nas@americakicks.com

Sent: Monday, December 29, 2003 7:55 PM

Subject: Re: [nas] Haydon column

He is right about one thing - that the FIFA rankings are bunk.  I sincerely doubt that Mexico or the US really is ahead of some of the teams they lead in that ranking.

 

As for his other opinion - and this isn't to bash Scotland, he just used them as an example - name the last time that Scotland got out of the preliminary round?  What did you say, they haven't?  Ever?  My gosh - and the US has done it not once, not twice, but three times?

 

Well, color me crazy if you want, but methinks we have another Euro(or probably more accurately, England)Snob.  Where is that quote from the ManU exec when you need it?  You know the one I mean - where he basically acknowledged that the US will win the World Cup before England will.

 

Oh well.

 

I've heard the Scream of the Butterfly
Suwon, Korea, 6-5-02
http://flashpages.prodigy.net/klindstr/home.html

----- Original Message -----

From: PAKURILECZ@aol.com

To: nas@americakicks.com

Sent: Saturday, December 27, 2003 2:11 PM

Subject: [nas] Haydon column

The following comes from John Haydon's Washington Times column. In today's column Haydon interviews "Chevy Chase-based writer Ian Plenderleith has written about soccer in England, Germany, Switzerland and the United States for Britain's popular fan magazine, When Saturday Comes."

 

<snip>

Q: The U.S. men's team is ranked 11th in the world. Is that a fair ranking?
    A: I don't think the FIFA world rankings have meaning to anyone who is a soccer fan. The fact that the U.S. team reached the World Cup quarterfinals was an exaggeration of its ability. But the U.S. is definitely in the top 20 to 30 teams.
    
    Q: When will the U.S. team win the World Cup?
    A: It won't.
    
    Q: Not in 20 years?
    A: The U.S. team has as much chance as Scotland, which means it won't.

<snip>

 

http://www.washtimes.com/sports/20031226-114700-9978r.htm

 

 

 

 

Peter Kurilecz
Richmond, Va
pakurilecz@aol.com