How confederations fared: European teams dominate, but not against South America

• by Ridge Mahoney  @ridgemax, Jun 29, 2018

One of the greatest appeals of World Cup play is so rarely do teams from the same confederation play each other.

In the first round that concluded Thursday, 42 of the 48 games matched nations from different confederations, which provides a fairly large data base from which to compile head-to-head records.

As one might expect, the European and South American nations dominate their foes from other parts of the world and pretty much cancel each other out when they go head-to-head. The eight matches between European and South American teams in the first round were evenly split: three wins apiece and two ties.

The numbers also show just how rough a World Cup it was for the five African nations, none of which advanced out of the first round. Only two wins were recorded against UEFA teams: Senegal beat Poland (2-1), and Nigeria downed Iceland (2-0). The three African nations that played South American teams all lost and they couldn't beat any Asian teams either.

Here’s a rundown of all the confederation records head-to-head as well as each confederation’s overall records, followed by short comments highlighting the most significant results.
 
2018 (host Russia)
EUROPE VS.
SOUTH AMERICA: 3-3-2.
AFRICA: 5-2-1.
ASIA: 5-1-2.
CONCACAF: 4-1-1.
OVERALL: 17-7-6
(No team from Oceania qualified for the 2018 World Cup.)
 
Had not Denmark and France both squeaked by Peru with 1-0 wins, the South Americans would have captured that category, and despite the overall record a few European teams stumbled against other regions. Only one Asian team beat a UEFA foe, but that was South Korea’s 2-0 uprooting of Germany that sent the defending champion home. Sweden took Germany’s place on the UEFA list of 10 teams in the Round of 16.

The effort expended by Spain in matching Portugal in a 3-3 thriller in their opening game may have been a factor in its narrow 1-0 defeat of Iran and 2-2 tie with Morocco. One of the first round’s most impressive displays was the emphatic 3-0 thumping of Argentina by Croatia; it and Belgium were two of three teams to take maximum points from their three games.

Round of 16 teams (10): Russia, France, Denmark, Croatia, Switzerland, Sweden, Spain, Portugal, Belgium, England.
 
SOUTH AMERICA VS.
EUROPE: 3-3-2.
AFRICA: 3-0-0.
ASIA: 2-1-0.
CONCACAF: 1-0-0.
OVERALL: 9-4-2.
 
The struggles of Argentina overshadowed somewhat the ease by which Uruguay swept its games in a weak Group A that included host Russia. Brazil also labored to top a group that included the Swiss and Serbia as well as Costa Rica, which was far removed from its sensational team of 2014. Colombia is the sleeper team of the South American quartet to advance. It rallied from a 2-1 opening loss to Japan while down to 10 men for most of the game to knock off Poland, 3-0, and then eliminate Senegal with a dramatic 1-0 win.
Round of 16 teams (4):  Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Uruguay.
 
ASIA VS.
EUROPE: 1-5-2.
SOUTH AMERICA: 0-2-1.
AFRICA: 2-0-1.
CONCACAF: 0-1-0.
OVERALL: 4-8-3.

After failing to win a game against an African team -- or anyone, for that matter, in the 2014 World Cup, Asian teams turned the tables by winning two and tying the other:

Saudi Arabia 2, Egypt 1.
Iran 1, Morocco 0.
Japan 2, Senegal 2.

A 1-0 loss to Poland in its final group game didn’t knock out Japan thanks to Colombia’s 1-0 win over Senegal. Both goals were scored on set plays, which continue to victimize many Asian teams at this competition, and the region’s record against Europe and South America is very poor.
Round of 16 teams (1): Japan.     
 
AFRICA VS.
EUROPE: 2-5-1.
SOUTH AMERICA: 0-3-0.
ASIA: 0-2-1.
CONCACAF: 1-0-0.
OVERALL: 3-10-2.
 
At least two of the five African entrants were given at least a fighting chance to advance, but Nigeria and Senegal faltered at the critical moments.

Nigeria started poorly with a 2-0 loss to Croatia and after beating Iceland by the same score could not deliver the knockout punch when Argentina was reeling and lost, 2-1. Senegal had a slot in its hands as it and Colombia played out a 0-0 tie but it fell asleep on a corner kick; the 1-0 defeat and a series of knotted tiebreakers eliminated it on more accumulated cautions than Japan. Hard done by? Yes. But if that goal isn’t conceded yellow cards don’t mean a thing.

Morocco earned some credit in a rousing 2-2 tie with Spain but were beaten by Iran, 1-0. The Mo Salah Saga made it a tough go for Egypt, and Tunisia got a consolation victory against Panama.
Round of 16 teams (0).
 
CONCACAF VS.
UEFA: 1-4-1.
SOUTH AMERICA: 0-1-0.
AFRICA: 0-1-0.
ASIA: 1-0-0.
OVERALL: 2-6-1.

As mentioned, Costa Rica had little of the magic that propelled it to the top of its group and into the quarterfinals four years ago, though it did manage to get a point off Switzerland and lost only by 1-0 to Serbia. Panama was completely overmatched in its first World Cup appearance. The shock defeat of Germany set up Mexico to advance by also beating South Korea (2-1), a loss to Sweden in the group finale notwithstanding.

Round of 16 teams (1): Mexico.
 
For comparison purposes here are the confederation head-to-head records for the first rounds of the 2010 and 2014 World Cup tournaments (knockout games not included):
 
2014 (host Brazil)
EUROPE VS.
SOUTH AMERICA: 2-6-1.
AFRICA:  4-1-2.
ASIA: 4-0-2.
CONCACAF: 3-2-2.
OVERALL: 13-9-7.
(No team from Oceania qualified for the 2014 World Cup.)
 
SOUTH AMERICA VS.
EUROPE: 6-2-1.
AFRICA:  3-0-0.
ASIA: 3-0-0.
CONCACAF: 1-1-1.
OVERALL: 13-2-2.
 
CONCACAF VS.
UEFA: 2-3-2.
SOUTH AMERICA: 1-1-1.
AFRICA: 2-0-0.
ASIA: no games.
OVERALL: 5-4-3.
 
AFRICA VS.
EUROPE: 1-4-2.
SOUTH AMERICA: 0-3-0.
ASIA: 2-0-1.
CONCACAF: 0-2-0.
OVERALL: 3-9-3.
 
ASIA VS.
EUROPE: 0-4-2.
SOUTH AMERICA: 0-3-0.
AFRICA: 0-2-1.
CONCACAF: no games.
OVERALL: 0-9-1.

2010 (host South Africa)
SOUTH AMERICA VS.
EUROPE: 3-1-3.
AFRICA: 3-0-0.
ASIA: 2-0-0.
CONCACAF: 2-0-0.
OCEANIA: 0-0-1.
OVERALL: 10-1-4.

EUROPE VS.
SOUTH AMERICA: 1-3-3.
AFRICA:  5-2-2.
ASIA: 3-3-0.
CONCACAF: 1-1-3.
OCEANIA: 0-0-2.
OVERALL: 10-9-9.
 
AFRICA VS.
EUROPE: 2-5-2.
SOUTH AMERICA:  0-3-0.
ASIA: 1-1-2.
CONCACAF: 2-0-0.
OCEANIA: no games.
OVERALL: 5-9-4.
 
ASIA VS.
EUROPE: 3-3-0.
SOUTH AMERICA: 0-2-0.
AFRICA: 1-1-2.
CONCACAF: no games.
OCEANIA: no games.
OVERALL: 4-6-2.
 
CONCACAF VS.
EUROPE: 1-1-3.
SOUTH AMERICA:  0-2-0.
AFRICA: 1-0-1.
ASIA: no games.
OCEANIA: no games.
OVERALL: 2-3-4.
 
OCEANIA VS.
EUROPE: 0-0-2.
SOUTH AMERICA: 0-0-1.
AFRICA: no games.
ASIA: no games.
CONCACAF: no games.
OVERALL: 0-0-3.