{"id":5377,"date":"2026-07-08T16:07:38","date_gmt":"2026-07-08T16:07:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/raleighmovingnews.com\/?p=5377"},"modified":"2026-07-08T16:07:38","modified_gmt":"2026-07-08T16:07:38","slug":"world-cup-quarterfinals-its-messi-morocco-and-6-teams-from-europe-and-thats-not-unusual","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/raleighmovingnews.com\/?p=5377","title":{"rendered":"World Cup quarterfinals: It\u2019s Messi, Morocco, and 6 teams from Europe. And that\u2019s not unusual"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<p>MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. (AP) \u2014 More World Cup teams. Same World Cup story.<\/p>\n<p>This edition started with 48 teams; it\u2019s now down to eight, with six of those from Europe. And unless Morocco pulls off a series of surprising outcomes over the final two weeks, the champion will come from Europe or South America.<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/raleighmovingnews.com\/?p=5375\">Why World Cup game balls always make their way back onto the pitch during matches<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Again. As always.<\/p>\n<p>A tournament that has been around for nearly a century \u2014 the first World Cup was in 1930 \u2014 has been contested on 22 previous occasions. The champions: 12 from Europe, 10 from South America, zero from the rest of the globe combined. <\/p>\n<p>This year\u2019s quarterfinal lineup: six from Europe, one from South America, one from Africa. Not exactly a history-bucking set of outcomes there.<\/p>\n<p>That said, it seems like even some of Europe\u2019s best players are surprised at how well this World Cup has gone.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI thought it was not possible to do some things,\u201d Norway star Erling Haaland said after his two goals helped his team beat Brazil for a spot in the quarterfinals \u2014 the first time his nation has gone this deep in a World Cup. \u201cI guess I\u2019m wrong.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He was wrong in a good way. The tournament hosts were wrong in a not-so-good way.<\/p>\n<p>North America had three cracks at breaking through this year in a bigger-than-ever, 48-team World Cup with the U.S., Mexico and Canada all co-hosts.<\/p>\n<p>None of those teams even made the quarterfinals.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe need to get over that next hurdle,\u201d U.S. star Christian Pulisic said in a televised interview after the Americans were ousted by Belgium in the round of 16, a lopsided 4-1 defeat that shows how far North America still has to go. \u201cTrying to compete and beat the world\u2019s best, that\u2019s our next step \u2026 There\u2019s still another step that we have to take.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The three hosts all got through the group stage and the round of 32 with ease. The U.S., Mexico and Canada had a combined 9-2-1 record in those matches, outscoring opponents by a total of 20 goals. Things looked promising, to say the least.<\/p>\n<p>Then came the round of 16. Thud.<\/p>\n<p>England ousted Mexico 3-2, the U.S. got rolled by Belgium in a match that looked one-sided from the outset and Canada was outclassed in a 3-0 loss to Morocco. Combined numbers from that trio of matches: 0-3-0 record, outscored by seven goals.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cLevels,\u201d French soccer legend Thierry Henry said in his role as an analyst on Fox after the U.S. defeat. \u201cThe World Cup is different in the group stage. Round of 32 never existed before. Everyone made history in the round of 32. It never existed before \u2026 Unfortunately, one host, two hosts, three hosts, out. That\u2019s exactly what you don\u2019t want at a World Cup. That is annoying for me.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>If it annoys Henry, imagine how it feels for the Canadians, Mexicans and Americans.<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/raleighmovingnews.com\/?p=5373\">Queen Camilla visits Wimbledon and is joined by actor who played her husband<\/a><\/p>\n<p>There hasn\u2019t been a CONCACAF \u2014 the Confederation of North, Central America and Caribbean Association Football \u2014 team in the World Cup quarterfinals since Costa Rica in 2014. <\/p>\n<p>Before that, it was the U.S. in 2002 in its best showing at the World Cup since finishing third in 1930. Canada has never been past the round of 16. Mexico has played in each of the last nine World Cups; it reached the round of 16 in eight of those, never going further in that span.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cEveryone gave everything,\u201d Mexico midfielder Erik Lira said. \u201cBut, in the end, it wasn\u2019t enough.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>That seems to be an every-four-years refrain for every place other than Europe and South America.<\/p>\n<p>There was some diversity in the makeup of the 2002 World Cup quarterfinal field with five confederations \u2014 Europe, South America, Asia, Africa and North America \u2014 all represented that year.<\/p>\n<p>It was a rare blip. Of the 48 available quarterfinal spots over the six World Cups since, Europe has claimed 30, South America 14, Africa three and North America one.<\/p>\n<p>Morocco is carrying Africa\u2019s hopes now and that continent came out of the group stage looking poised for a breakthrough. It sent 10 teams to the tournament; nine made it into the round of 32.<\/p>\n<p>And then, most of the teams saw their hopes end by surrendering late goals. <\/p>\n<p>Ivory Coast, South Africa and Congo all surrendered decisive goals in the 86th minute or later of what became their exits from the knockout phase. Cape Verde\u2019s magical ride ended after giving up an own goal to Lionel Messi and defending champion Argentina in the 111th minute. And for Senegal and Egypt, the endings were particularly harsh \u2014 both led 2-0 late in the second half, then fell by 3-2 scores to Belgium and Argentina, respectively.<\/p>\n<p>Egypt felt the match was stolen by officiating decisions.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cPerhaps they wanted to keep the world champion in the competition,\u201d Egypt coach Hossam Hassan said. \u201cPerhaps they wanted Messi to stay in the competition.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The counterpoint to that was how, once again, a powerhouse like Argentina found a way. For the fifth time in the last six World Cups, Messi\u2019s team is in the quarterfinals.<\/p>\n<p>Some things just don\u2019t seem to change.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt wasn\u2019t easy to come back from a 2-0 deficit in a World Cup knockout match \u2014 especially given how games are going these days, where no one gives you anything for free,\u201d Messi said. \u201cBut thank God, we did it once again.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/raleighmovingnews.com\/?p=5371\">Dolly Parton\u2019s \u2018dream come true\u2019 Broadway musical to open<\/a><\/p>\n<p>___<\/p>\n<p>\n                See more of AP\u2019s World Cup coverage here\n              <\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. (AP) \u2014 More World Cup teams. Same World Cup story. This edition&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5376,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5377","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>World Cup quarterfinals: It\u2019s Messi, Morocco, and 6 teams from Europe. 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