Quote:
Originally Posted by SonOfLe-loLang
Just like there's no easy outs in the Euro tournament like there are in the World Cup.
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Yeah. I guess "depth" wasn't technically the right word, but a much less diluted pool. Italy, Spain, Netherlands etc have to fight just to advance from their group play, whereas in the WC they practically stroll into the second elimination round most times.
As this article points out, "a host nation, Italy, Germany, Brazil or another South American outfit have won every WC except the most recent" whereas "in the 13 tournaments since its inception in 1956, nine different teams have hoisted the Euro trophy." Germany is the only outlier to this parity, having won three times. The bloodbath has occasionally allowed teams like Greece or Denmark (very very solid teams in global scheme, but underdogs in this setting) to win it all, something we've never seen in the WC.