F.I.F.A. World Cup Team Spotlight: Three underachieving teams at the last four World Cups (prior to F.I.F.A. World Cup 2018 Russia 🇷🇺)

1) France 🇫🇷 (F.I.F.A. World Cup 2002 South Korea/Japan 🇰🇷🇯🇵): Entering the 2002 F.I.F.A. World Cup co-hosted by South Korea and Japan, France was arguably the best national side in the world. Legendary former French midfield maestro Zinedine “El Mago” Zidane was in peak form, having experiencing recent tremendous success at club and national levels, respectively. During the four years prior to the 2002 F.I.F.A. World Cup South Korea/Japan, Zidane a.k.a “Zizou” led Les Bleu to World Cup and U.E.F.A. European Championship titles in 1998 and 2000, respectively. “Zizou” also led Real Madrid to the 2002 U.E.F.A. Champions League title, defeating the 2001-2002 Bundesliga championship runner-up Bayern Leverkusen 2-1 in the title match. Zidane sealed the victory for Real Madrid when he scored a spectacular left-footed volley off of a Roberto Carlos cross in the 45th minute.

At F.I.F.A. World Cup 2002 South Korea/Japan, France was pitted alongside Denmark, Senegal and Uruguay, respectively, in Group A. Granted that it is extremely difficult for world champions to defend their F.I.F.A. World Cup title and that Zidane missed France’s first two group games due to injury, soccer analysts expected that France would at least make it out of their group on to the semi-finals. Similairly, soccer analysts had expected that the defending world champions sans Zidane, would be able to manage at least a draw in their game against Senegal.

France eventually finished last in the group, and lost to Senegal, 1-0 in one of the biggest upsets in F.I.F.A. World Cup history. Disappointingly, France could not manage to make it out of group play, finishing with a paltry one point and ensuing early exit from 2002 F.I.F.A. World Cup South Korea/Japan. France’s disappointing 2002 F.I.F.A. World Cup South Korea/Japan campaign is widely regarded amongst soccer analysts as an overall failure and surely an embarrasing period in French soccer history.

2) Argentina 🇦🇷 (World Cup 2010 South Africa 🇿🇦): Entering World Cup 2010 South Africa, Argentina’s national soccer team was considered one of the favorites to win it all. For starters, Argentina was blessed with arguably the best soccer player on the planet in Barcelona F.C.’s Lionel Messi. Likewise blssed with the likes of Manchester City star striker Carlos Tevez and Athletico Madrid youthful striker Sergio Aguero, Argentina had a very strong chance at winning World Cup 2010 South Africa, or at least reaching the tournament’s final match. The last time Argentina hoisted the World Cup trophy was with Diego Maradona, at the 1986 World Cup hosted in Mexico.

Although the great Lionel Messi had achieved practically received every award and achievement at club level thus far with Barcelona, he had yet to win a World Cup with his national side. It is one accomplishment that has eluded Messi his entire career. Argentina was drawn in Group B, alongside Nigeria, South Korea and Greece, respectively. Argentina registered three wins against their group opponents and finished atop Group B with a sparkling nine points. Even though Argentina did well in the ensuing round of 16 defeating Mexico 3-1, they were blanked in the quarterfinals 4-nil by Germany. Messi has constantly been derided by the sports media about being one of the greatest soccer players never to win a World Cup. That unenviable distinction about Messi still rings true today.

3) Ivory Coast 🇨🇮 (World Cup 2010 South Africa 🇿🇦): Prior to World Cup 2010 South Africa, Ivory Coast was widely considered among soccer analysts as one of the strongest national sides representing the African continent. Historically speaking, the Ivory Coast had registered strong performances at major continent-wide soccer tournaments, winning African Cup of Nations titles in 1992 and 2015, respectively. Shortly prior to World Cup 2010 South Africa, the Ivory Coast was ranked 27th in the world (May 2010) by F.I.F.A., and arguably the best African national side (with the exception of Ghana). The Ivory Coast roster featured the likes of Chelsea superstar striker Didier Drogba, Manchester City hard-working midfielder Yaya Touré, Arsenal defender Kolo Touré (Yaya’s older brother) and Arsenal midfielder/defender Emmanuel Eboué, amongst other notable players. The Ivory Coast was drawn in Group G (the so-called Group of Death) alongside Portugal, North Korea and Brazil.
Disapointingly, they could not make it out of the group stage, finishing third in Group G with four points. On paper, the Ivory Coast had tremendous, highly-rated players seemingly ready to make some noise at the national level. Unfortunately for the Ivory Coast, the game is played and won on the field of play and not in sports media rooms by soccer analysts.

Sources: Wikipedia–https://www.en.wikipedia.org, F.I.F.A.–https://www.fifa.com, YouTube–https://www.youtube.com, E.S.P.N.– https://www.espn.com/, Barcelona F.C.– https://www.fcbarcelona.com