Soccer and superstitions go hand in hand. Over the years, there have been thousands of superstitions, jinxes, and conspiracy theories about the game. While most of them prove to be whimsical and utterly false, however, some of them turn out to be true. One of the most popular jinxes going on for about two decades is the FIFA World Cup curse.
To someone who is not a soccer fan, a “World Cup curse” does sound pretty silly and childish. But for those who religiously follow soccer, it is a real thing.
How did the World Cup Curse start?
The curse started twenty years ago. France had just won their first FIFA World Cup in 1998, defeating Brazil in the final. Defending champions France headed out to the FIFA World Cup 2002 which was held in South Korea and Japan. The French team had a plethora of stars in their squad like Zinedine Zidane, Patrick Vieira, Thierry Henry, Lillian Thuram, Emmanuel Petit, and so on.
However, the unthinkable happened in 2002. France with their bunch of talented superstars exited the tournament in the group stages. No one had ever thought that the defending champions would bow out of the tournament at such an early stage. Since then, the curse has become famous.
The curse means that the team which won the FIFA World Cup in the previous edition won’t get past the group stages in the next edition of the tournament. However, after twenty years, the curse has finally been lifted. Quite ironically, it is France who broke the curse in 2022, as they face Lionel Messi‘s Argentina in the FIFA 2022 World Cup final. France is the current defending champion, winning the title in 2018 in Russia.
Matchday -1️⃣ 🏆
Club teammates Leo Messi and @KMbappe turn rivals in tomorrow’s @FIFAWorldCup final 🏟️ Which player will bring it home for their country? pic.twitter.com/X3cDEoXk3Z
— SOCCER.COM (@soccerdotcom) December 17, 2022
However, the curse is not completely over yet. France may lose their title to Argentina, which is in sublime form. Argentina is looking to finally end its 36-year-long wait for the coveted trophy. Messi, who is in staggering form, may emulate Maradona’s feat back in 1986 and lead Argentina to its third World Cup title.
Which countries have suffered the World Cup Curse?
The curse started with France back in 2002 and has affected other European powerhouses of soccer like Italy, Spain, and Germany.
Italy won their fourth title in 2006, and they failed to get past the group stages of the 2010 edition. Interestingly, ever since Italy won the tournament in 2006, they have never won a knockout game in the World Cup. They suffered from back-to-back group stage exits in 2010 and 2014. Shockingly, Italy has failed to qualify for back-to-back World Cups in 2018 and in 2022.
https://twitter.com/Gala10Galaxy/status/1603459168072933376?s=20&t=ZZqPXiZQm5WNmbwUYty1gg
Spain also fell prey to the curse as they failed to get past the group stages in 2014 after winning their maiden title in 2010. Germany was the next victim as they failed to get through to the knockout stages in both 2018 and 2022 after winning it in 2014.
Brazil is the only nation to escape the curse, as they went as far as the quarterfinals in 2006, after winning the title in 2002. Do you think France will lift the curse by winning the title against Argentina? Or will they fall prey to their own curse that they started 20 years ago.