International Soccer

How Does Confederations Cup Performance Compare To World Cup Performance?

So Germany won the Confederations Cup on Sunday. It’s exciting for the players and the fans always want to watch their team win, but what does it mean in the big picture?

More precisely: What does it mean for Germany's chances in the 2018 World Cup next summer?

The Confederations Cup, in its current format, has been played the summer before the World Cup prior to the last five four-year cycles. 

Germany Wins Confederations Cup After Chile Mistake Leads To Lars Stindl Goal

Only days after Germany's under-21 side won the European Championship, the senior team has won the Confederations Cup over Chile.

While Chile had chances throughout the match, they couldn't find a way to outmaneuver Germany – even though the German side was missing key talent like Marco Reus, Thomas Müller, Mesut Özil, Sami Khedira, Mats Hummels and Jérôme Boateng.

The 10 Countries With The Most Miserable Soccer Fans

Soccer has fans in all the nations of the world, with countries as small as San Marino (population 33,000) and as big as China (1.38 billion) fighting for the World Cup trophy. 

Regardless of size, some countries, like Uruguay, are far more successful than others, say, Indonesia.

But what sets the following nations apart isn’t their success or failure, it’s their fans' relationship with the latter.

Rodolfo Pizarro And Elias Hernandez Lead Mexico Past Paraguay

Mexico took care of Paraguay in their final warm-up before the CONFACAF Gold Cup, winning 2-1 behind goals from Rodolfo Pizarro and Elias Hernandez. 

Pizarro opened the scoring when he pounced on a rebound and put it in the back of the net.

Germany’s C-Team Wins U-21 Euros Courtesy Of Outrageous Looping Header

While Germany’s A-team takes a much-needed breather before next summer’s World Cup finals, Germany’s B-team have advanced to the final of the Confederations Cup and Germany’s C-team have just captured the UEFA European Under-21 Championship. One can only imagine what it’s like to support the German national team.

The much-heralded attacking talents of Spain, spearheaded by Real Madrid’s Marco Asensio and Atletico’s Saúl, could only manage a single shot on target against Germany in the final. 

When Canada Won The Gold Cup By Winning A Coin Toss And Upsetting Mexico

In 15 previous editions of the CONCACAF Gold Cup, the outlandishly large trophy has been lifted by either Mexico or the United States on 14 occasions. The only other nation to have triumphed at the event isn’t Central American power Costa Rica, nor is it previous tournament guests Brazil or Colombia. In 2000, the Gold Cup was won by the world's 85th-ranked side — Canada.

The Canadians made a historic run to the final, frequently playing in a Los Angeles Coliseum that was at about 3 percent capacity, beginning with the successful navigation of group play via a coin toss.

Fabian’s Must-See Golazo No Consolation In Mexico’s Crushing 4-1 Loss To Germany

Mexico already trailed by three when Marco Fabian lashed at the ball with all his might, catching everyone by surprise.

Fabian sliced a wonder strike past Marc-Andre ter Stegen in the 89th minute, but few will remember this match for that goal.

Instead, what will be remembered is El Tri surrendering two goals in the first eight minutes en route to a crushing 4-1 defeat in the Confederations Cup semifinals Thursday in Russia.

Germany will play Chile in the final on Sunday while Mexico gets a Cristiano Ronaldo-less Portugal in the third-place game. 

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