Europe and South America will do battle again for soccer supremacy in the World Cup quarterfinals but with many of the usual combatants having already exited, there is a fresh feel to a line-up that promises a new or long-absent finalist. While Africa, Asia and North America will not be represented, dashing any hope of a revolutionary breakthrough in the eventual destination of the trophy, at least one of this year’s finalists will not have reached the title decider for half a century, if at all. With perennial challengers Germany, Spain and Argentina all having exited a tournament that has thrown up a never-ending series of surprises, the draw has a distinctly unbalanced feel in terms of the talent weighing on either side. In one half, England, who played their one final when they won the title in 1966, and Sweden, who lost to Brazil on home soil in the 1958 final, will meet in Samara on Saturday with a last-four clash against Croatia or Russia awaiting the winner. Neither the hosts, whose previous best was a single semifinal appearance as the Soviet Union in 1966 or Croatia, who also reached the last four in 1998, were expected to challenge but have significantly outshone many supposed superiors. On the other side of the draw, five-time winners Brazil take on Belgium’s so called ‘Golden Generation’, and 1998 champions France face Uruguay, who were crowned twice in the tournament’s early history. It is here that the habitual battle between soccer’s two dominant continents, who have produced all previous World Cup winners, will take place. While it is the fourth time in the last seven tournaments that no team outside of Europe or South America is in the last eight, even this quadrennial conflict will spurn its usual template. Overturning long-held preconceptions about football’s two main land masses, this year’s quarterfinals pitch thrilling and adventurous European teams against pragmatic, stubborn and defensively-minded South American opponents. Brazil, usually the game’s great entertainers, and Uruguay boast the meanest defences at the World Cup having both conceded once in their four games. Their opponents, Belgium and France, are more focused on creating havoc at the other end. Uruguay kept Portugal’s Cristiano Ronaldo at bay in their 2-1 last-16 win, just as France banged in four against Argentina at the same stage. They play in Nizhny Novgorod on Friday.
