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Football can be a cruel game, especially so on the international stage. Unlike club football, the stakes are much higher in an international competition, such as the World Cup, Copa America or the European Championships.
In football crazy countries, a nation’s morale, and how it is perceived by other nations, is directly connected to a national football team’s performance on the world stage.
Since the beginning of international football matches in 1872, with a match between England and Scotland, international football has always been an attractive proposition for spectators.
Fortunes have waxed and waned; while some nations have become better with time, others have slipped up, and have let their illustrious past haunt them. Some nations which had once dominated the world-football scene are now pushed to the periphery by their more superior neo-counterparts. Such is the power of time and history.
Although a near impossible task to quantify, here we take a look at once, high-achieving, highly glorious football nations who are now underperforming.
#3 URUGUAY
When it comes to football heritage, Uruguay are one of the few nations who are undoubtedly a part of the game’s aristocracy. The nation hosted and won the first ever FIFA World Cup in 1930.
Since the inception of the South American football federation CONMEBOL IN 1916, Uruguay have been a powerhouse in Latin American football as well. Before their maiden World Cup triumph in 1930, Uruguay had already won six Copa America titles, an unprecedented achievement.
In fact, the first president of CONMEBOL was a Uruguayan politician Hector Rivadavia Gomez, such was Uruguay’s hold over their continent’s football.
La Celeste are also the nation who famously inflicted the pain of the Maracanazo, in their 2-1 victory over Brazil in the 1950 World Cup final at the Maracana Stadium. Before that, Uruguay had also won two Olympic gold medals in 1924 and 1928. Football ran in their veins.
By the 1960s, Uruguay were one of the few nations to have already won two World Cups, eleven Copas America and two Olympic golds in football. Uruguay were undoubtedly the most decorated team in Latin America.
To put their dominance into perspective, the current Latin American heavyweights Brazil and Argentina had not even hit their stride.
Brazil won their first World Cup only in 1958, and had only won a meagre three Copa America titles before the 1960s.
Argentina would not win their first World Cup till 1978, and their only decent run came in the Copa America, which they won a total of 12 times before the 1960s.
The 1960s proved to be a turning point. This was the decade where there was a shift in power in South American football from the hands of Uruguay to Brazil.
In 1962, Brazil won their second consecutive World Cup, continuing their fine run from 1958. Thus, they became the first nation to equal Uruguay’s record. By winning the 1970 edition of the tournament, Brazil eventually overtook Uruguay.
Then came Argentina in the 70s and 80s, who won a World Cup each in these two decades.
While Brazil and Argentina prospered, Uruguayan football continued to be at a standstill in the world stage. They continued their wins in the Copa America though, but even here victory came sporadically.
Uruguay’s last major national silverware came in 2011, when they won their record 15th Copa America title in home soil, thus becoming the nation with the most titles.
This is the only statistic that gives an indication today of how strong Uruguay were as a team once. Their decline in last five decades has been nothing short of massive.
Uruguay records in major tournaments
FIFA World Cup:
Champions: 1930, 1950
Copa América:
Champions: 1916, 1917, 1920, 1923, 1924, 1926, 1935, 1942, 1956, 1959, 1967, 1983, 1987, 1995, 2011
#2 HUNGARY
Although Hungary has never won the World Cup historically, they are nevertheless a nation steeped in football heritage.
With their current state, it is easy to forget that Hungary produced players of the ilk of Ferenc Puskás, Sándor Kocsis, László Kubala, Nándor Hidegkuti and Béla Guttmann.
The nation reached the quarter finals of the 1934 World Cup in Italy, their first ever participation in the competition. They reached the World Cup finals on two occasions, first in 1938, and again in 1954, losing to West Germany in the final. It was a match in which Hungary went 2-0 up inside eight minutes, before the Germans came back to win 3-2.
With 11 goals, Sándor Kocsis was the top scorer of the tournament, a record that still sees him placed today as the sixth highest goal-scorer in World Cup history. What is remarkable is that all his goals came in the same tournament, unlike the others in the list.
It was a tournament in which Hungary created many records, which still stand today.
· Hungary scored the greatest number of goals in the tournament (27)
· Hungary had the highest average goals scored per game, with 5.4 goals
· Hungary had the highest average goal difference with (+17)
· Hungary also had the highest average goal difference per game (+3.4)
The 1954 World Cup truly showcased to the rest of the world what Hungarian football was all about. However, since then, the nation has never managed to scale similar heights.
There has been a steep decline, since. The nation did not qualify for two consecutive World Cup tournaments in 1970 and 1974.
In fact, this great football crazy nation never managed to even qualify for the World Cup since 1986, a tournament from which they exited in the Group Stage.
It is a pity that Hungary could not sustain their level, in a nation where football boomed just before the second World War, and continued to blossom for a couple of decades after it.
Maybe the 1954 World Cup victory would have made Hungary a true football powerhouse, just as it happened for Germany after that year’s win. The German went on to become a major football nation in the coming decades.
For now, their countrymen will most certainly have little hope of a resurgence.
#1 ARGENTINA
Some football fans might be horrified at Argentina’s inclusion in this list, but when we look at the numbers, we can understand why the nation deserves to be included in this category.
For a football crazy nation like Argentina, it is a sin to go without a World Cup victory for 34 years, which will be extended to 36 years, by the time the 2022 edition of the tournament kicks off. And even then, there is no guarantee that La Albiceleste will win the competition.
Their last silverware of any importance came in the 1990 Copa America, their 14th title, but even that came a whopping 30 years ago.
Even though the national team reached four Copa America finals since (2007, 2015, 2016 and 2019) they have not managed to cross the finish line, losing to Chile and Brazil.
The nation also had a chance to lift the 2014 World Cup on enemy territory, but it was Germany who pipped them to the honor back in Brazil.
Argentina, like Uruguay, have never had a shortage of talents. They have arguably the greatest player in the world, Lionel Messi. Until recently, Argentina had a plethora of star-studded options, dubbed as their ‘golden generation’.
Yet that generation could provide no joy to its football crazy public. Fans still talk with nostalgia of the exploits of Diego Maradona, and they want Messi to assume that mantle. Yet somehow, the team always falls short.
Even Uruguay, whose decline is more comprehensive than Argentina’s, managed to win the Copa America in 2011, just nine years back. And to make matters worse, that tournament took place in Argentina.
What is this if not a decline on the national stage?
Even more shamefully for national team fans, Argentina players have managed to perform exceedingly well in club football. Angel Di Maria, Sergio Aguero, Gonzalo Higuain, Lionel Messi, Ever Banega, Ezequiel Lavezzi, Javier Mascherano, Nicolas Otamendi, Lucas Biglia and others have become household names over the years.
Yet they have never managed to collectively perform in national colors. It is perhaps harsh to judge Argentina like this because they have reached the finals on many occasions in top international competitions.
Argentina continue to produce new talents like Lautaro Martinez and Joaquín Correa. However, they fail to perform to their potential when they put on the national shirt.
Winning is all that matters for La Albiceleste. Despite all his efforts, Messi is still playing second fiddle to a certain Diego Maradona in the hearts of Argentina fans.
Argentina records in major tournaments
FIFA World Cup
- Champions: 1978, 1986
Copa América
- Champions: 1921, 1925, 1927, 1929, 1937, 1941, 1945, 1946, 1947, 1955, 1957, 1959, 1991, 1993
