All time World Cup inter-federational stats

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
__________________________________________
TOTAL 195 81 44 70 289 268  1.48 1.37 2.85
T82    86 31 22 33 105 104


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
__________________________________________
TOTAL  20 15  2  3  53  17  2.65 0.85 3.50
T82    11  8  1  2  24   8


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
__________________________________________
TOTAL  18 11  4  3  34  15  1.88 0.83 2.71
T82    16  9  4  3  28  15


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
__________________________________________
TOTAL  14 11  3  0  29   4  2.07 0.28 2.35
T82    10  9  1  0  22   2


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
__________________________________________
TOTAL  71 43 16 12 160  60  2.25 0.84 3.09
T82    42 23 12  7  73  36


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
__________________________________________
TOTAL  62 32 17 13 103  56  1.66 0.90 2.56
T82    55 27 15 13  84  52


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
__________________________________________
TOTAL  56 37 13  6 126  38  2.25 0.67 2.93
T82    44 30  9  5  94  32


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
__________________________________________
TOTAL   3  2  1  0   5   2  1.66 0.66 2.32


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
__________________________________________
TOTAL   7  3  3  1  11   8  1.57 1.14 2.71

 

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 247 118  53  76 405 304  1.64 1.23 2.87
T82   123  57  28  38 179 129  1.45 1.04 2.49

Europe vs World
E  v W  P   W   D   L   F   A  GF/M GA/M G/M
TOTAL 384 182  90 112 657 443  1.71 1.15 2.86 
T82   227 113  58  56 355 225  1.56 0.99 2.55

Africa vs World
A  v W  P   W   D   L   F   A  GF/M GA/M G/M
TOTAL  90  19  25  46  84 150  0.93 1.66 2.60
T82    80  18  23  39  77 124  0.96 1.55 2.51

CONCACAF vs World
C  v W  P   W   D   L   F   A  GF/M GA/M G/M
TOTAL 101  20  20  61  92 224  0.91 2.21 3.12
T82    62  14  15  33  58 105  0.93 1.69 2.62

Asia/Oceania vs World
AO v W  P   W   D   L   F   A  GF/M GA/M G/M
TOTAL  84  10  20  54  59 176  0.70 2.09 2.79
T82    68   9  14  45  51 137  0.75 2.01 2.76

World Cup 2002 - Confederational Head-to-Heads

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.

World Cup 2006 - Confederational Head-to-Heads

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.

About this document

posting in rec.sport.soccer on Mar 25, 1998

updated to include 1998-2006 results by Roberto Di Maggio

2002 and 2006 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: 23 Jul 2006

(C) Copyright Stephen Halchuk and RSSSF 1998/2006
You are free to copy this document in whole or part provided that proper acknowledgement is given to the author. All rights reserved.