World Cup Favorites Face the Champion Curse
Before every World Cup begins, global fans weighing football debates beside Bangladesh Cricket Live nights usually see one or two teams crowned as clear favorites. Yet over the past few decades, most of those favorites have failed to have the last laugh. Is this simply superstition, or is there a pattern that can be explained? The list of heavily backed teams falling short over the past 30 years is long. In 2002, Argentina and France, both carrying squads described as among the strongest in history, crashed out in the group stage. In 2014, host nation Brazil were destroyed 7-1 by Germany in the semifinal. In 2018, defending champion Germany finished bottom of their group. In …
