Is the European Championship a..........

[Dunny]

better competition than the World Cup in terms of the quality of the teams entered and the quality of the games? I was listening to a debate with a panel of experts and the majority of them think that the Euro's is the tougher competition to win. What does the forumites think about that?

[Me]

How was 2010 world cup group stages?

France, out
Slovenia, out
Serbia, out
Denmark, out
Italy, out
Switzerland, out

[Assasin]

Nope I don't think so, Plus the world cup much more colorful.

[Dunny]

How was 2010 world cup group stages?

France, out
Slovenia, out
Serbia, out
Denmark, out
Italy, out
Switzerland, out

How was the top 4 for the past 6 world cups?

1990
Germany
Argentina
Italy
England

1994
Brazil
Italy
Sweden
Bulgaria

1998
France
Brazil
Croatia
Netherlands

2002
Brazil
Germany
Turkey
Korean Republic

2006
Italy
France
Germany
Portugal

2010
Spain
Netherlands
Germany
Uruguay

[Lazie]

really now? They want to tell us that Greece, Ireland, Ukraine etc is a better 'quality' team and plays better 'quality' footall than Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay, Mexico, Nigeria etc? This season is competitive but when so many BETTER player are missing ... it cannot be better.

[Stonigut]

When 8 out of last 16 copas have been won by south American teams that renders that argument irrelevant.

[Me]

Doesn't look like all European teams. Seems that some of their teams have problems against these lesser countries.

[Paul Marin]

better competition than the World Cup in terms of the quality of the teams entered and the quality of the games? I was listening to a debate with a panel of experts and the majority of them think that the Euro's is the tougher competition to win. What does the forumites think about that?

It is a silly comparison. They are totally different competitions played under far different circumstances. For one - the Euros are always in Europe which makes the situation far easier for teams relative to their supporters, facilities, travel, cultural expectations, weather and style of play. Secondly, teams from different parts of the world play the game differently, so a Spain v. Nigeria game may be far more compelling clash than Spain v. (another European team) - or not. Both are great spectacles and should not be compared to each other.

[Zeppo]

One argument for the Euros however is that you never see lopsided blow-outs against a clearly weak team, like Germany 8-0 Saudi Arabia in the 2002 WC, for example.

The competition is stronger across the board.

[Dunny]

It is a silly comparison. They are totally different competitions played under far different circumstances. For one - the Euros are always in Europe which makes the situation far easier for teams relative to their supporters, facilities, travel, cultural expectations, weather and style of play. Secondly, teams from different parts of the world play the game differently, so a Spain v. Nigeria game may be far more compelling clash than Spain v. (another European team) - or not. Both are great spectacles and should not be compared to each other.

Well said Paul!

[Dunny]

One argument for the Euros however is that you never see lopsided blow-outs against a clearly weak team, like Germany 8-0 Saudi Arabia in the 2002 WC, for example.

The competition is stronger across the board.

That's a fair argument.

[Zeppo]

I was listening to a debate with a panel of experts and the majority of them think that the Euro's is the tougher competition to win.

One thing that weakens this argument is the length of the competition, since the World Cup has 32 teams and there's another game along the way that must be won in order to reach the final:

European Championship
Group stage > Quarter-finals > Semi-finals > Final

World Cup
Group stage > Second round > Quarter-finals > Semi-finals > Final

[Karl]

Do not remember scores but there have been huge beating administered.
Maybe 5 or 6 or 7

[Paul Marin]

That's a fair argument.

Yes, but the discrepancy between team quality at the world cup is getting less and less so as the game matures and smaller countries get better (although Qatar might get more than 8-0 if they face Brazil). Outside of FIFA's politics, on the balance, the rest of the world is catching up. Twenty years ago, who would have thought that the US would have done as well as they have at the last 2 world cups? I like both competitions and get a different kind of pleasure out of each of them. At the World Cup, I tend to "root" for the under dog teams (except when they are playing against Brazil) and want to see the giants fall. Who can forget the Cameroon/England game? Or Nigeria/Italy? At the Euros, I don't have a favourite team but would like to see certain players do well.

[Zeppo]

According to the FIFA world rankings the lowest ranked country at the Euros is Poland at 62, followed by Ukraine at 52. However, both these countries qualified automatically as host countries.

If you exclude them then the lowest ranked country is Czech Republic at 27.