The World Cup Round Down

England are stinking out the joint but will probably come right against Slovenia.
The Argentinians are the class act and the Spaniards, Brazilians and Italians need to step up to the plate. It hasn't been a great tournament so far but I expect more in the knockout round.

Stand by for a team by team synposis later on in the tournament.

In the mean time here are some of my takes on the history of the World Cup

8 Greatest Winning Teams (in order) since 1950

1. Brazil 1970
2. Italy 1982
3. Argentina 1986
4. W. Germany 1974
5. Brazil 2002
6. England 1966
7. France 1998
8. Brazil 1958

8 Greatest teams never to have won the World Cup

1. Netherlands 1974 (in my opinion the second greatest World cup team ever)
2. Hungary 1954
3. Brazil 1982
4. England 1970
5. Brazil 1998
6. Brazil 1950
7.Italy 1970
8. Netherlands 1998

3 Weakest teams ever to win the World Cup

1. West Germany 1954
2. Argentina 1978
3. Brazil 1994


5 Weakest teams ever to reach the World Cup Final (Weakest first)

1. Argentina 1990
2. Germany 2002
3. West Germany 1986
4. Netherlands 1978
5. Italy 1994

5 Most Exciting World Cup Competitions

1. Mexico 1970
2. England 1966
3. Switzerland 1954
4. Spain 1982
5. France 1998

5 Most boring World Cups

1. Italy 1990 (by a mile)
2. Chile 1962
3. Brazil 1950
4. Japan/South Korea 2002
5. South Africa 2010 (possibly)

Ten Greatest Matches

1. Italy 4 West Germany 3 - 1970
2. Italy 3 Brazil 2 - 1982
3. Portugal 5 North Korea 3 - 1966
4. England 4 West Germany 2 - 1966
5. Netherlands 2 Argentina 1 - 1998
6. West Germany 3 England 2 - 1970
7. Italy 3 Argentina 1 - 1982
8. Argentina 2 England 2 - 1998 (Argentina won on penalties)
9. Scotland 3 Netherlands 2 - 1978
10. Brazil 4 Italy 1 - 1970

2 Most Boring Finals

1. West Germany 1 Argentina 0 - 1990
2. Brazil 0 Italy 0 - 1994 (Brazil won on penalties)

Ten Greatest performances by a player at a World Cup

1. Mardonna - 1986
2. Garrincha - 1958
3. Garrincha - 1962
4. Zidane - 1998
5. Rossi - 1982
6. Cruyff - 1974
7. Ronaldo - 2002
8. Muller - 1970
9. Lato - 1974
10. Kocsic - 1954

10 Most Disappointing Teams

1. Italy - 1966
2. France - 2002
3. England - 1950
4. Brazil - 1966
5. England - 1958
6. Argentina - 1994
7. Spain - 1998
8. Italy 2002
9. Portugal 2002
10. Sweden 1990

6 Best Cinderella Teams

1. Bulgaria - 1994
2. Croatia - 1998
3. Belgium - 1986
4. South Korea - 2002
5. Chile - 1962
6. Turkey - 2002