perros said:
^^^^
I'm not sure if its exclusively just culture though.
Peru, Mexico, Colombia, Bolivia, Chile, Paraguay, Central American countries have strong soccer cultures and traditions and it doesn't necessarily correlate to winning a world cup.
Portugal, strong soccer culture, never won a world cup.
Spain, strong soccer culture and barely won it in 2010.
If you ask me, I think its corruption and the powers that be want mainly Western European countries to win and all resources are geared towards that.
The perennial Latin American complaint.
All European final a la 2010? Wayyyy-cism!
Look no further than the Argentinians in 2014 and 2018. A very talented side.
They could have won that 2014 final but they devoted too much energy to niggling, preening, complaining, fouling, rolling around on the floor, swearing at the ref. The most negative display.. and they lost.
2018 they took their negativity and histrionics to new levels. I remember seeing one of their players losing his shit and swearing away at a linesman right in front of the cameras.
If you ask lots of Latin Americans they are the toughest of the tough, so badass, no-one should mess with them. Fair enough.
They go to a World Cup where in a game of fitness and skill all they have to do is score more goals than the other side and they can win the whole thing: what happens?
They act like fricking toddlers and lose to sides that are arguably less talented than them - but who display much better focus, discipline and teamwork.
Whattt?
Rayyyy-cism!!!
Well how does that work?
Its the same amount of players on the pitch.
Both goals are the same size.
Its all televised around the world in real time.
As for pro-Western Europe bias well, Spain and Portugal
are Western European.
Spain have always been the sleeping giants of world football but there have always been issues in the national squad. Players like Raoul were so rated but watching him in the national jersey was embarrassing at times.
They finally woke up and won European Cup-World Cup-European Cup 2008-2010-2012 .. a feat never achieved before.
Its hard to win a World Cup.
If a European team wins it then straight away the Africans and Latinos start complaining.
But then.. when the spotlight is applied to their own team selection, issues in their governing bodies, inability to handle pressure, negative negative tactics, the way they went about playing specific games then..
surprise, surprise, they have no one but themselves to blame.
And then their press gives their most preening, pathetic, sweary, (albeit talented) primadonnas titles like El General!/ El Supremo! and say that he is big rough, tough enforcer! and midfield general/ defensive stalwart.
No. He's a dickhead. And he played like one. And because he played that badly his team lost.
The rest of the world can see this.
But there seems to be a special kind of hamstering that goes on in the minds of Brazilians/ Cameroonians/ Mexicans/ Argentinians/ Uruguayans etc. after each World Cup.