JORDAN HARTSHORN
Sports Writer

With World Cup qualification in the books, it’s time for the 32 qualified nations to start dreaming of possible World Cup glory at the 19th edition of the tournament in South Africa in 2010.

The tournament maintains an allure that suggests any nation — be it Honduras or Algeria — has an opportunity to take on the world and succeed. While this celebration of parity on the world’s grandest stage may be what gives the event its lustre, in the end it may only be a mirage.

For, when all is said and done, the World Cup winners remain an impenetrable old boys club of European and South American powers. Brazil has won the event five times and Argentina and Uruguay have each raised the Jules Rimet Trophy for the South American Football Confederation, while the Union of European Football Federation has seen Italy win on four occasions, Germany three times* and France and England each a single time.

The rest of the world has been shut out. In fact, the highest a non-European or South American side has ever finished was the United States, who earned third place way back in 1930. Beyond that, South Korea is the only other outsider to even play for third place when they did so in 2002, losing 3-2 to Turkey.

Now, there are very sound reasons why success has been a two-headed monster in the tournaments history. Europe has boasted a plethora of nations and sends 13 teams to the modern tournament. By sheer numbers they have nearly a 50 per cent chance of winning.

Though, in 1930, when soccer was burgeoning into the global monolith it is today, nations around the globe were just beginning to shed their colonial pasts and join Europe in the industrial world. Europeans had the benefit of organized clubs bent towards the sport much earlier on and thus have a much stronger infrastructure for the sport to this day.

Soccer fervour in South America is at a fever pitch in every one of the continent’s nations. To this day, South America churns out the world’s finest talent. Brazil, however, holds the distinct advantage of its massive population — in 1950 the population was 51 million, while today it is around 183 million. If they hadn’t won five titles by now, they would be ostracized.

South American soccer may get maligned for its corruption at a local level, but when it comes to its nation’s relationship with the World Cup, they held one particular political advantage: while Europe and its colonies were ravaged by war from 1914-18 and again from 1939-45, South America sat idle. They were soccer powers left incubating, while other parts of the world beat themselves to a pulp. It should come as no surprise that, when the first World Cup after World War II was held in 1950, it was Brazil and Uruguay who finished first and second.

With anther generation of superstars from Europe and South America poised to run rampant again, it would appear that some of the world shouldn’t even bother to show up and compete.

Every other continent is sending their typical tier two sides, a step below the world’s elite. The Asian teams are good, but never quality. Mexico and the United States are always imbued with promise that ultimately disappoints.

Meanwhile, Oceania Football Confederation representative New Zealand managed to qualify despite never beating a country with a population exceeding a million people.

Expect heavy defeats.

Realistically, it is in sub-Saharan Africa where the greatest threat to European and South American World Cup dominance lies.

No, seriously.

Soccer outsiders until the 1990s, players from this often forgotten corner of the world have come to be recognized as some of the best, despite the fragile nature of their often war-torn societies.

Amidst the continent’s political turmoil throughout the second half of the 20th century it was difficult for any nation to build a satisfactory soccer infrastructure. Yet, there was no doubting the talent.

After Cameroon won their pool and advanced to the final eight in the 1990 World Cup, many predicted Africa was the new South America — a place where little known, but talented players were to be found. Rich European clubs started bringing African players into their sides, with varying degrees of success.

Of course, this act of prescience was premature. While it was more common for Africans to feature in European club football, this did not translate into World Cup success. Only Senegal has repeated the feat of the Cameroonians, making it to the final eight in 2002, while Nigeria has won their pool on two occasions but failed to win a playoff game.

However, it set in motion the strength of the African sides today.

If one looks around Europe’s elite clubs in England, Spain and Italy, they would be hard pressed not to find an African presence. Benefitting over the last decade and a half from the training and opportunity that European clubs offer, the talents of African players have not been squandered, but groomed.

Now, nations such as Côte d’Ivoire, Nigeria and Cameroon are poised to threaten the established order in 2010, especially Côte d’Ivoire.

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* Correction: This article originally stated that Germany had won the FIFA World Cup on two occasions. In fact, the glorious German people have won the cup three times as West Germany in 1954, 1974 and 1990. Thank you to commenter Andre for the notice.