9781422278321

For some countries, qualifying for the world’s most popular sporting event is a foregone conclusion. Soccer fans in Germany, Brazil, and Italy can safely buy their tickets to watch their beloved teams play as soon as FIFA announces the location of the next World Cup. These countries have consistently produced players of quality and skill generation after generation, and are not only there at every World Cup, but usually threaten to win the tournament as well. The case of Germany, Brazil, and Italy is the exception, however, because for most countries, getting into the World Cup final field is very difficult. Only 15 percent of the teams that try actually qualify every four years. For most national teams, qualification is a monumental achievement. When Denmark qualified for the 2002 World Cup in Japan and South Korea, the team’s sponsor rewarded it with 1.1 million in Danish currency for the players. It was just the third time in its history that Denmark had qualified. When Saudi Arabia’s team qualified for the first time in 1994, each player received a $25,000 bonus. Just getting in is a big deal. Most countries have never qualified for the World Cup. Countries such as Angola, Canada, China, Congo, Cuba, Haiti, Indonesia, Iraq, Israel, Jamaica, Kuwait, Slovakia, Togo, Trinidad and Tobago, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates, and Wales have only qualified one time in their histories. There are some big countries on that list. When it comes to getting into the World Cup, size is not everything. China has more than a billion people, but just one appearance. Uruguay, on the other hand, has fewer than four million people, but has five top-four finishes and two wins to show for 12 appearances. When soccer is the true passion of the nation, it is reflected in World Cup success. Other lightly populated countries such as Paraguay, Switzerland, and the Netherlands all have excellent qualification records. Cameroon is an emerging African nation with seven World Cup appearances, the most of any team from that continent. Perhaps Cameroon star Roger Milla said it best when he simply stated the feeling behind the accomplishment, “Football allows a little country to become a big one.”

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