JAKARTA - Imagine, when the Qatar 2022 World Cup was just a few weeks away, a number of strong European teams actually appeared disappointing, sparking speculation that there would be a change in the world's peak football landscape in Qatar later.
The change could change the trend that has occurred in previous World Cups where European teams have always won the World Cup since Brazil last won the grandest football trophy in 2002 in Japan and South Korea.
In the last four FIFA World Cups, Europe sent 13 representatives out of a total of 16 semifinalists of the previous four World Cups, which were won by Italy, Spain, Germany and France.
But those teams appeared unsatisfactory during the Nations League. Italy, which won Euro 2020 last year, even failed to return to Qatar, while the UK, France, Germany and Spain had difficulty showing their best games.
The UK has never won in their last six games, even relegated from the top division of the Nations League.
France is no less concerning. The defending champions of the World Cup were spared from relegation just because the results of other teams' matches made them not equal to England.
Germany is the same way. The Panser team only won once in six games in the group stage of the Nations League.
Spain did enter the semifinals of the Nations League accompanying Croatia, Italy and the Netherlands, but last week it collapsed 1-2 in the hands of Switzerland.
This could be a bad clue to their adventures in Qatar later, even if the UK strikers Harry Kane insist they will perform at all others in the World Cup later.
However, the World Cup teams face no less serious problems, namely the absence of time to host friendly matches and training camps ahead of the World Cup.
From now on until November 13th, which will be one week of break before kickoff of the 2022 World Cup, the players of Europe's top teams will have to play at least 13 times for their clubs.
The English, Chinese, Japanese, Arabic, and French versions are automatically generated by the AI. So there may still be inaccuracies in translating, please always see Indonesian as our main language. (system supported by DigitalSiber.id)
