Isn't it too early to guess the 2026 World Cup winner? But isn't football just entertainment? What if you guess wrong? The entertainment of football is not only reflected in the many gimmicks and coincidences on the field, but also outside the field. If we analyze the winners of the most recent World Cups, we will find a very interesting fact.
Since the beginning of the new century, the World Cup has been held for a total of 6 times, except for the 02 World Cup champion and the 22 World Cup champion were taken by Brazil and Argentina respectively, the middle 4 World Cup champions are all traditional European strong teams. They are: Italy in '06, Spain in '10, Germany in '14, and France in '18.
Isn't this the same as Serie A, La Liga, Bundesliga, and Ligue 1 in the five major leagues?
Although the five major leagues are of different levels and have their own criticisms, it is undeniable that the attraction of the five major leagues to the world's best players is unparalleled. Good players from other regions want to squeeze into the big five leagues with their heads sharpened. The accumulation of excellent players will inevitably improve the competitiveness of the league, and at the same time, the level of domestic players will naturally rise.
The corresponding national teams of Serie A, La Liga, Bundesliga, and Ligue 1 have won the World Cup in the past ten years, but who is missing?
Premier League, England.
The Premier League is definitely the most competitive league in world football, the most intense, and the most market-oriented operation, like Manchester City, Arsenal, Liverpool, which team is not full of international players from many different national teams? But unfortunately, since the new century, the other four major leagues have a World Cup champion as a background board, but the Premier League does not.
Speaking of which, we have to mention England's embarrassing position in European football. As the originator of modern football, England has never won a title other than the 1966 World Cup on home soil. The European Championship is the highest level of European football, and most of the European powerhouses have won the championship, and even the uncrowned king of the World Cup such as the Netherlands has dominated the European Championship. However, England have never won the title, and at Euro 2021, they even reached the final for the first time.
In recent years, there has been a blowout of talent in English football, and the temperament of the squad has improved. So England fans are expecting their team to win the Hercules Cup. According to the relationship between the World Cup champions and the five major leagues in recent years, Serie A, La Liga, Bundesliga, and Ligue 1 have all won the World Cup champion label, next time, is it the turn of the Premier League?
Perhaps, this is not a dream. In the 2022 World Cup, England played well, but unfortunately met France ahead of schedule. In 2026, the new generation of players such as Bellingham will become more and more mature, and at that time, England will be more competitive. Hopefully, the Premier League will live up to such coincidences.