WHY DO “FIFA LOWER RANKED” NATIONAL TEAMS JOIN THE WORLD CUP?

Since 1930, the World Cup has been won by only 7 teams, namely:

Uruguay: 1930 and 1950
Italy: 1934, 1938, 1982 and 2006
Brazil: 1958, 1962, 1970, 1994 and 2002
Germany: 1954, 1974, 1990
England: 1966
Argentina: 1978 and 1986
France: 1998

Back to my question, why do “FIFA Lower Ranked” National Teams join the World Cup? Though “FIFA Lower Ranked” National Teams like Malawi, Barbados, etc. have no chance of winning the World Cup (according to some pundits), they still join the World Cup hoping that may be this time it’s their turn to win it (Audacity of Hope). Yes, before the tournament starts, the goal of each team is to win the tournament. Before 1998, France had never won the World Cup. Everything has its beginning. After all, soccer is not played on paper. When FIFA Higher Ranked Teams like Brazil, Italy, etc. meet one of the so called “FIFA Lower Ranked” National Teams, nothing is going to be given to them on a silver platter. They still have to go there and beat them. They could hit the crossbar 10 times and the lower ranked team could utilize its only chance and win. “Anything can happen in football.” You can’t control destiny.

All teams join the World Cup to be champs. The goal only changes when it is mathematically not possible to be champs. That brings us to an article by Ole Gunner entitled “TOP 5 MEDIA MYTHS ABOUT ARSENAL”

I was particularly interested in the third paragraph of his article:

The criticism of Arsenal often centres on another myth. The myth that football clubs exist only to win trophies. A useless myth if ever their was one.

According to Ole, 90% of football clubs will NEVER win anything and if it were true that football clubs exist solely to win trophies, then the likes of Chelsea would have ceased to exist from 1970 to 1997 because they didn’t win anything in that period.

I choose to disagree. Chelsea didn’t cease to exist because they kept hoping that they would win it the next season. Similarly, I think “FIFA Lower Ranked” National Teams keep on joining the World Cup hoping that this time could be their turn to win it. Keyword: Hope. Hope in the face of difficulty. Hope in the face of uncertainty. The Audacity of Hope.

I agree with Ole that football is about competition. Competition is a rivalry between individuals, groups, nations, or animals, for territory or resources. It arises whenever two or more parties strive for a goal which cannot be shared. Championship can not be shared. It may be true that teams don’t only exist to win trophies but unfortunately, in the sporting industry teams are judged by their performance. There are trophies in every league for the best team (champs). They were created so those players/teams could have a goal to achieve each and every time they competed. It doesn’t matter how many games a team wins. It’s how many championships a team wins that counts.

Yes, football clubs, like most organizations, exist to survive and continue their businesses. However, how can a club survive if the team keeps on losing? If the team keeps on losing attendance tends to go down and vice-versa. With success come rewards. Success equates to more money. Research indicates that people who are not fans of any team/club tend to support the team/club that wins trophies. They tend to buy merchandise of recently crowned champs (yes, similar to political term “Jumping on the Band Wagon”: the tendency of voters to align themselves with the largest and most successful campaign. As more and more voters express support for a candidate or measure, the group grows exponentially larger).

The plane has landed.

Happy New Year!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!