8 minutes agoReuters: A new world order in football is emerging
Periskopi(2 hours ago)
(2 hours ago)The 2026 World Cup can go down in history as a tournament that dramatically changed the balance of power in world football. Former soldiers have lost their monopoly, while teams that were long in their shadow are now competing equally for the first countries.
That is the conclusion of an analysis by the familiar medium Reuters.
The most visible symbol of these changes is Germany. Four-time world champions were eliminated in the 1/16th phase from Paraguay, Uruguay ended in the group phase, and the Netherlands was sent home from Morocco. Italy, on the other hand, failed to qualify for the World Cup for the third time in a row.
Interestingly, Italy, Germany and Spain, after winning their last world championships, have won no single match in the preliminary phase of the race.
The Rise of New Football Powers
As former Egyptians undergo a crisis, national teams that were considered abroad have entered the big stage until recently.
Morocco continued to prove that their success in 2022 was not random, Paraguay shocked and eliminated Germany, and among national teams that are attracting more and more attention, Reuters mentions Algeria, Egypt, Ghana, and the Debuters of the Green Head.
That something is radically changing, German coach Julian Nagelsmann admitted to eliminating his team, declaring what was unimaginable until late. It would be too arrogant to say that we are among the best national teams in the world. We're just not"anymore, Nagelsmann said.
Similar tours are coming from Italy, where the leadership of the football federation is announcing fundamental changes in the players' development system and the functioning of the national team aimed at restoring the country to the top of the world.
Morocco as an Example of Success
Reuters singles out Morocco as a key example of a new football power. After making stories in Qatar reaching the semifinals, the Moroccans have continued to invest in the development of new players. Their current coach, Mohammed Ouhbi, won the World Cup with the U-20 team just a year ago, and many of these young people are now leading the game at the senior level.
Reuters concludes that the World Cup 2026 is no longer a history of dominant traditional favourites over the rest of the world. Instead, football has entered a new era in which an increasing number of national teams rightly believe they can defeat anyone, and the once clear line between the big and the small is becoming ever weaker. /Periscope/
