From the 32 teams that have qualified for the World Cup Finals, 15 are from Europe, 5 from South America, 5 from Africa, 3 from North & Central America (or Concacaf), and 4 from Asia. So out of these odds, it would seem prudent to assume that a European team would have the most chance of winning as it has almost 50% of the teams. Has this been the case in the past? The World Cup has been taking place since 1930 and in the 16 competitions held, a European team has won 8 times and a South American team has won 8 times.

The number of teams allowed to participate in the World Cup Finals from each world zone is interesting and seems to inherit rules and regulations from history.

Looking back to 1930, the date of the first World Cup, there were 13 teams that participated in the Finals. Held in Uruguay, teams received official invitations from the hosts which eventually culminated in 8 South American teams and 4 European teams taking part in the event.

Many more European countries were invited and expected to go to Uruguay but due to the economic situation in Europe and the long sea crossing only a small number committed. By 1934, there was more interest in competing in the World Cup this time held in Italy and a pre-qualifying tournament was orchestrated to decide the 16 finalists. Interest in the World Cup has continued to increase over the years to a high of 204 teams participating in the preliminary stages this year.

Up until 1978, only 16 teams could qualify for the World Cup Finals and there were as many as 98 nations competing in the preliminary phases. Out of the 16 teams, FIFA designated that 10 teams could qualify from Europe, 4 teams from South America, 1 team from Asia and 1 team from North and Central America.

In response to this, all 16 African nations boycotted the 1966 World Cup due to the fact that the African zone winners did not receive automatic entry to the finals and had to play off against the Asian winners to fill the one spot allocated to the 2 continents. This ruling was later revoked. In 1970 the first African nation, Morocco qualified for the World Cup Finals.

In 1982, the number of teams able to play in the Finals was increased to 24 teams with the following zone designations: 13 European teams, 3 South American teams, 2 African teams, 2 Asian/Oceanic zone teams and 2 Central/North American teams, plus the host and the winner of the previous cup.

In 1998 this number was further increased to 32 teams; 13 from Europe, 5 from Africa, 4 from South America, 3 from North/Central America, 2 from Asia. Plus a playoff opportunity for European team #14 versus Asian team #3, and South American team #5 versus Oceania group winner. Plus the host nations and the winner from the last world cup.

So in 1998 how did FIFA come to their conclusions about which world zones received additional qualification spots?

It would appear not to be based on the number of preliminary teams competing in each zone as the statistics for this look like the following:

If this was an important consideration by FIFA, Asia would have undoubtedly had more than the 2/3 places allocated to them as a zone. They do have almost 4 times as many teams to compete against in the preliminary stages in comparison with North/Central America, Oceania or South America.

If the qualification spots for each zone were calculated by the number of teams that have historically qualified or the performances in prior World Cup Finals, the results for the Finals since 1930 would be as follows:

(Based on a point system where the top performing team out of 65 teams that have ever participated in the World Cup Finals receives the maximum 65 points and the team with the poorest performance receives 1 point.)

If the number of teams that have qualified per zone since 1930 (column 2) is considered, Europe, Asia and North/Central America have the best results. The number of current qualification placings for each world zone do not reflect these statistics, so it was unlikely that these factors were important in the decision making process either.

The historic team performance results (column 3) are more similar with the allocations of FIFA but it would still seem questionable why Africa now has 5 allocated places and why South America have the chance for 5 out of a possible 10 teams to qualify? North/Central America also seem to have a pretty good deal considering the fact that many teams are island teams and have a small population to draw their team from.

Whatever the reason for the decisions made, it would seem important that the following is noted. Asia has demonstrated by their 40 teams taking part in the preliminary stages of the World Cup, a definite passion and commitment to the World Cup. The popularity of football in Asia is huge, exemplified by the qualifying match between Iran vs Rep. of Ireland in Tehran where there were 120,000 supporters at the game, the highest number of supporters recorded at any of the preliminary matches. This at least doubles the fan base of many other countries.

Teams from the Asian zone have shown historically that they may not be the strongest teams but their teams are qualifying and are improving with each appearance. It would seem much more just to have Asia with at least 4 definite qualifying spots for their 40 teams.

It will be intriguing to watch the 2002 Finals as the host nations of South Korea and Japan have automatically received qualification places. This puts Asia with 4 teams in the Finals, the first time ever. Their performances will surely be closely assessed.

Whatever the outcomes of the Finals in 2002, it would seem most logical and fair that for 2006, Asia gain the extra qualification place available due to the 2002 winners no longer securing their spot.

Sources/Further Information

FIFA
Infoplease

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