Then there were four - World Cup semis mirror rankings for first time

AI Summary

The 2026 men's World Cup has reached the semi-final stage, with the four semi-finalists matching the top four in FIFA rankings. European teams alongside at least one South American team continue to dominate the tournament despite efforts to globalize football.

There have been 100 games of football so far at the 2026 men's World Cup and at the end of it all, the four semi-finalists and the top four in the FIFA rankings. All the talk of spreading the game and taking the World Cup to new horizons has been replaced with the cold, hard reality that Europe and at least one South American team still dominate.