Meet the unlikely lads: England, Croatia, Sweden and Russia
And the best part is one of these four will be in the final — really
From a World Cup draw that looks like a bright, imaginative, big-hearted child might have drawn it, one of the following four teams will appear a week from Sunday in a rare and motley final: Croatia, Russia, Sweden or England.
This reality stands cemented already even ahead of the quarter-finals that begin today, with only two previous final berths sprinkled among that whole foursome up there. That will mark a departure from the penchant of the World Cup final to spotlight titans, with Spain in 2010 the only finalist since 1966 without multiple finals all-time. Twenty-nine of the previous 40 berths have gone to Germany (eight), Brazil (seven), Italy (six), Argentina (five) or the Netherlands (three).
Somehow, only one of those five stands among the final eight, with that one (Brazil) on the tougher side of the draw alongside Belgium’s golden generation, France’s soaring talent and ■ Uruguay’s all-pitch competence. That leaves room to note things such as that, when two teams walk out for the final in Moscow, Croatia could forge an astounding achievement for a country only 27 years old and with 4.2 million souls, or England …
England, the home to the world’s most popular sports league, has reached only one World Cup semi-final in the 52 years since 1966, the year they won the World Cup at Wembley Stadium as hosts.
England have played only one of the 20 previous World Cup finals. Sweden have played one also, in 1958, at home, against Brazil. Croatia and Russia have played none. This has been a World Cup of “Ross-i-ya” chants even during matches not involving Russia, and often followed by brief jeers from jarred, miffed fans of those actually playing. “There are many good teams, and a lot is at stake,” Sweden’s Emil Forsberg said. “It can be nerves,” which help explain the unexpected. “It can be anything.”