With all the recent bleating over the allotment of spots for the World Cup, I've dusted off this long ago message which shows the results of the various inter-federational matchups in World Cup finals. The stats don't tell us much that we don't already know, but I am eager to see how the RSS community manipulates them to prove their points of view. WARNING - there are no comments on GNPs, boxing, chess, beef or breakfast cereal to be found in this message. My take on the obvious (at least in my opinion): 1. Europe and South America are by far the strongest federations. 2. Africa is the (slightly) strongest of the minnows. 3. There is so little data between the minnow federations that it is meaningless to try and compare them. 4. The minnows are slowly catching up to the old boys. A few notes: 1. Games which were decided on penalty kicks (there were only a few) were counted as draws. 2. Oceania is included with Asia since the two Oceanian teams which qualified (Australia in 1974 and New Zealand in 1982) did so by competing against Asian teams. 3. Israel's 1970 results are included as part of Asia as they were in this region for qualifying (they are now considered part of Europe). 4. The T82 values are the totals from 1982-2006 inclusive. They are an attempt to show how the various federations compare in the "modern" era of the World Cup, when there were 24 teams and the allotments were relatively stable (yes, they have changed over this time period but not significantly, in my opinion) WORLD CUP Head to Head Results: South America vs. Europe SA v E P W D L F A GF/M GA/M G/M 1930 8 5 0 3 15 10 1.88 1.25 3.13 1934 2 0 0 2 3 6 1.50 3.00 4.50 1938 5 3 1 1 14 11 2.80 2.20 5.00 1950 10 4 3 3 24 16 2.40 1.60 4.00 1954 7 3 1 3 19 14 2.71 2.00 4.71 1958 12 7 2 3 30 26 2.50 2.17 4.67 1962 17 9 3 5 25 24 1.47 1.41 2.88 1966 12 4 2 6 11 17 0.92 1.42 2.33 1970 10 6 1 3 17 11 1.55 1.00 2.55 1974 13 1 6 6 7 20 0.54 1.54 2.08 1978 13 8 3 2 19 9 1.46 0.69 2.15 1982 10 3 1 6 16 20 1.60 2.00 3.60 1986 13 7 4 2 23 17 1.77 1.31 3.08 1990 12 3 5 4 9 11 0.75 0.92 1.67 1994 12 5 2 5 17 15 1.42 1.25 2.67 1998 15 3 6 6 14 20 0.93 1.33 2.26 2002 14 7 2 5 16 13 1.14 0.93 2.07 2006 10 3 2 5 10 8 1.00 0.80 1.80 2010 12 3 3 6 12 16 1.00 1.33 2.33 __________________________________________ TOTAL 207 84 47 76 301 284 1.45 1.37 2.82 T82 98 34 25 39 117 120 WORLD CUP Head to Head Results: South America vs. CONCACAF SA v C P W D L F A GF/M GA/M G/M 1930 3 2 0 1 9 6 3.00 2.00 5.00 1950 2 2 0 0 9 2 4.50 1.00 5.50 1954 1 1 0 0 5 0 5.00 0.00 5.00 1962 1 1 0 0 2 0 2.00 0.00 2.00 1966 1 0 1 0 0 0 0.00 0.00 0.00 1974 1 1 0 0 4 1 4.00 1.00 5.00 1982 1 1 0 0 2 0 2.00 0.00 2.00 1986 1 0 1 0 1 1 1.00 1.00 2.00 1990 1 1 0 0 1 0 1.00 0.00 1.00 1994 2 1 0 1 2 2 1.00 1.00 2.00 1998 1 1 0 0 5 0 5.00 0.00 5.00 2002 2 1 0 1 6 4 3.00 2.00 5.00 2006 3 3 0 0 7 1 2.33 0.33 2.66 2010 3 3 0 0 5 1 1.67 0.33 2.00 __________________________________________ TOTAL 23 18 2 3 58 18 2.52 0.78 3.30 T82 14 11 1 2 29 9 WORLD CUP Head to Head Results: South America vs. Africa SA v A P W D L F A GF/M GA/M G/M 1970 1 1 0 0 3 0 3.00 0.00 3.00 1974 1 1 0 0 3 0 3.00 0.00 3.00 1982 2 0 1 1 2 3 1.00 1.50 2.50 1986 1 1 0 0 1 0 1.00 0.00 1.00 1990 2 0 0 2 1 3 0.50 1.50 2.00 1994 2 2 0 0 5 1 2.50 0.50 3.00 1998 4 3 1 0 8 2 2.00 0.50 2.50 2002 3 1 2 0 6 5 2.00 1.66 3.66 2006 2 2 0 0 5 1 2.50 0.50 3.00 2010 4 3 1 0 8 2 2.00 0.50 2.50 __________________________________________ TOTAL 22 14 5 3 42 17 1.91 0.77 2.68 T82 20 12 5 3 36 17 WORLD CUP Head to Head Results: South America vs. Asia/Oceania SA v AO P W D L F A GF/M GA/M G/M 1966 1 0 1 0 1 1 1.00 1.00 2.00 1970 1 1 0 0 2 0 2.00 0.00 2.00 1974 1 0 1 0 0 0 0.00 0.00 0.00 1978 1 1 0 0 4 1 4.00 1.00 5.00 1982 1 1 0 0 4 0 4.00 0.00 4.00 1986 2 2 0 0 4 1 2.00 0.50 2.50 1990 2 2 0 0 3 0 1.50 0.00 1.50 1994 1 0 1 0 0 0 0.00 0.00 0.00 1998 1 1 0 0 1 0 1.00 0.00 1.00 2002 1 1 0 0 4 0 4.00 0.00 4.00 2006 2 2 0 0 6 1 3.00 0.50 3.50 2010 5 3 2 0 8 3 1.60 0.60 2.20 __________________________________________ TOTAL 19 14 5 0 37 7 1.94 0.37 2.31 T82 15 12 3 0 30 5 WORLD CUP Head to Head Results: Europe vs. CONCACAF E v C P W D L F A GF/M GA/M G/M 1930 2 1 0 1 4 3 2.00 1.50 3.50 1934 1 1 0 0 7 1 7.00 1.00 8.00 1938 4 2 1 1 18 5 4.50 1.25 5.75 1950 4 3 0 1 9 4 2.25 1.00 3.75 1954 2 2 0 0 8 2 4.00 1.00 5.00 1958 3 2 1 0 8 1 2.67 0.33 3.00 1962 2 1 0 1 2 3 1.00 1.50 2.50 1966 2 1 1 0 3 1 1.50 0.50 2.00 1970 5 3 1 1 9 2 1.80 0.40 2.20 1974 2 2 0 0 10 1 5.00 0.50 5.50 1978 2 2 0 0 9 1 4.50 0.50 5.00 1982 5 3 2 0 14 3 2.80 0.60 3.40 1986 6 3 1 2 6 4 1.00 0.67 1.67 1990 6 4 0 2 13 6 2.17 1.00 3.17 1994 6 2 3 1 6 5 1.00 0.83 1.83 1998 6 4 2 0 12 6 2.00 1.00 3.00 2002 6 2 2 2 8 7 1.33 1.17 2.50 2006 7 5 2 0 14 5 2.00 0.71 2.71 2010 5 1 3 1 5 5 1.00 1.00 2.00 __________________________________________ TOTAL 76 44 19 13 165 65 2.17 0.85 3.02 T82 47 24 15 8 78 41 WORLD CUP Head to Head Results: Europe vs. Africa E v A P W D L F A GF/M GA/M G/M 1934 1 1 0 0 4 2 4.00 2.00 6.00 1970 2 1 1 0 3 2 1.50 1.00 2.50 1974 2 2 0 0 11 0 5.50 0.00 5.50 1978 2 1 1 0 1 0 0.50 0.00 0.50 1982 4 1 2 1 4 3 1.00 0.75 1.75 1986 5 2 2 1 6 4 1.20 0.80 2.00 1990 6 3 2 1 10 5 1.67 0.83 2.50 1994 8 5 1 2 16 10 2.00 1.25 3.25 1998 11 4 4 3 19 13 1.72 1.18 2.90 2002 12 5 4 3 14 10 1.17 0.83 2.00 2006 9 7 0 2 15 7 1.66 0.77 2.43 2010 9 5 2 2 9 6 1.00 0.66 1.66 __________________________________________ TOTAL 71 37 19 15 112 62 1.58 0.87 2.45 T82 64 32 17 15 93 58 WORLD CUP Head to Head Results: Europe vs. Asia/Oceania E v AO P W D L F A GF/M GA/M G/M 1954 2 2 0 0 16 0 8.00 0.00 8.00 1966 4 2 1 1 9 5 2.25 1.25 3.50 1970 2 0 2 0 1 1 0.50 0.50 1.00 1974 2 2 0 0 5 0 2.50 0.00 2.50 1978 2 1 1 0 1 0 0.50 0.00 0.50 1982 5 4 1 0 14 4 2.80 0.80 3.60 1986 3 2 1 0 6 4 2.00 1.33 3.33 1990 4 4 0 0 14 3 3.50 0.75 4.25 1994 5 3 1 1 10 7 2.00 1.40 3.40 1998 7 6 1 0 15 1 2.12 0.14 2.26 2002 12 6 2 4 22 10 1.83 0.83 2.66 2006 8 5 3 0 13 3 1.62 0.37 1.99 2010 8 3 2 3 16 9 2.00 1.12 3.12 __________________________________________ TOTAL 64 40 15 9 142 47 2.22 0.73 2.95 T82 52 33 11 8 110 41 WORLD CUP Head to Head Results: Africa vs. CONCACAF A v C P W D L F A GF/M GA/M G/M 1978 1 1 0 0 3 1 3.00 1.00 4.00 2006 2 1 1 0 2 1 1.00 0.50 1.50 2010 3 1 1 1 3 3 1.00 1.00 2.00 __________________________________________ TOTAL 6 3 2 1 8 5 1.33 0.83 2.16 WORLD CUP Head to Head Results: CONCACAF vs. Asia/Oceania CA v AO P W D L F A GF/M GA/M G/M 1986 1 1 0 0 1 0 1.00 0.00 1.00 1998 3 2 0 1 6 4 2.00 1.33 3.33 2002 2 1 1 0 3 1 1.50 0.50 2.00 2006 1 1 0 0 3 1 3.00 1.00 4.00 __________________________________________ TOTAL 7 5 1 1 13 6 1.85 0.85 2.70 WORLD CUP Head to Head Results: Asia/Oceania vs. Africa AO v A P W D L F A GF/M GA/M G/M 1994 1 1 0 0 2 1 2.00 1.00 3.00 1998 1 0 1 0 2 2 2.00 2.00 4.00 2002 2 1 0 1 2 1 1.00 0.50 1.50 2006 3 1 2 0 5 4 1.66 1.33 3.00 2010 4 1 2 1 4 6 1.00 1.50 2.50 __________________________________________ TOTAL 11 4 5 2 15 14 1.36 1.27 2.63 And for those of you still reading and curious as to how the federations match up against the rest of the world, here are the cumulated stats. South America vs World SA v W P W D L F A GF/M GA/M G/M TOTAL 271 130 59 82 438 326 1.62 1.20 2.82 T82 147 69 34 44 212 151 1.44 1.03 2.47 Europe vs World E v W P W D L F A GF/M GA/M G/M TOTAL 418 197 100 121 703 475 1.68 1.13 2.81 T82 261 128 68 65 401 257 1.54 0.98 2.52 Africa vs World A v W P W D L F A GF/M GA/M G/M TOTAL 110 23 31 56 101 174 0.92 1.58 2.50 T82 100 22 29 49 94 148 0.94 1.48 2.42 CONCACAF vs World C v W P W D L F A GF/M GA/M G/M TOTAL 112 22 24 66 101 237 0.90 2.12 3.02 T82 73 16 19 38 67 118 0.92 1.61 2.53 Asia/Oceania vs World AO v W P W D L F A GF/M GA/M G/M TOTAL 101 14 26 61 75 206 0.74 2.04 2.78 T82 85 13 20 52 67 167 0.79 1.96 2.75
South America 20 10 4 6 32-22 34 1,700 North and Central America 10 4 3 3 14-15 15 1,500 Europe 44 18 10 16 57-43 64 1,455 Africa 17 4 6 7 16-22 18 1,059 Asia 17 5 3 9 13-30 18 1,059 Head to head results Europe - Africa 12 5 4 3 14-10 Europe - Asia 12 6 2 4 22-10 Europe - North and Central America 6 2 2 2 8- 7 Europe - South America 14 5 2 7 13-16 South America - Africa 3 1 2 0 6- 5 South America - Asia 1 1 0 0 4- 0 South America - North and Central America 2 1 0 1 6- 4 North and Central America - Asia 2 1 1 0 3- 1 Asia - Africa 2 1 0 1 2- 1 Matches between countries in the same confederation are excluded.
Europe 34 22 7 5 50-25 73 2,147 South America 17 10 2 5 28-11 32 1,882 Africa 16 3 3 10 14-26 12 0,750 Asia 14 1 5 8 10-26 8 0,571 North and Central America 13 1 3 9 10-24 6 0,462 Head to head results Europe - Africa 9 7 0 2 15- 7 Europe - Asia 8 5 3 0 13- 3 Europe - North and Central America 7 5 2 0 14- 5 Europe - South America 10 5 2 3 8-10 South America - Africa 2 2 0 0 5- 1 South America - Asia 2 2 0 0 6- 1 South America - North and Central America 3 3 0 0 7- 1 North and Central America - Asia 1 1 0 0 3- 1 North and Central America - Africa 2 0 1 1 1- 2 Asia - Africa 3 1 2 0 5- 4 Matches between countries in the same confederation are excluded. Australia is included in Asia.
South America 24 12 6 6 33-22 42 1,750 Europe 34 15 10 9 46-32 55 1,617 Asia 17 4 6 7 16-30 18 1,058 North and Central America 11 2 4 5 9-13 10 0,909 Africa 20 4 6 10 17-24 18 0,900 Head to head results Europe - Africa 9 5 2 2 9- 6 Europe - Asia 8 3 2 3 16- 9 Europe - North and Central America 5 1 3 1 5- 5 Europe - South America 12 6 3 3 16-12 South America - Africa 4 3 1 0 8- 2 South America - Asia 5 3 2 0 8- 3 South America - North and Central America 3 3 0 0 5- 1 North and Central America - Asia 0 0 0 0 0- 0 North and Central America - Africa 3 1 1 1 3- 3 Asia - Africa 4 1 2 1 4- 6 Matches between countries in the same confederation are excluded. Australia and New Zealand are included in Asia.
posting in rec.sport.soccer on Mar 25, 1998
updated to include 1998-2010 results by Roberto Di Maggio
2002-2010 overviews thanks to Sondre Zachariassen (sondrez@yahoo.com)
Prepared and maintained by Stephen Halchuk for the Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation
Author: Stephen Halchuk
(halchuk@seismo.nrcan.gc.ca)
Last updated: 17 Sep 2010
(C) Copyright Stephen Halchuk and RSSSF 1998/2010
You are free to copy this document in whole or part provided that proper
acknowledgement is given to the author. All rights reserved.