General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: The World Cup has won me over. [View all]DanTex
(20,709 posts)Brazil, Germany, Italy, Argentina, France, England, Spain, Holland I would say are the perennial favorites. But that doesn't mean that it's predictable. Right there you have 8 quality teams year in and year out, that could win any given cup. And this year, Italy, England and Spain didn't even make it out of the group stage.
Spain didn't win their first World cup until 2010, and Holland still hasn't won. Meanwhile, Colombia could be climbing to the elite level.
I don't think the World Cup is more predictable than most sports leagues in any give year -- NFL, MLB, NBA, etc. Brazil was the favorite going in to this one, and they're not in the finals. Spain, defending champion and twice defending Euro winner was highly touted, but collapsed. It's true that Germany and Argentina were both among the top few favored teams, though.