HOUSTON, Texas — Past the match day experiences, beyond the sampling of local cuisine and on top of all the cultural exchange that normally goes on at the World Cup, perhaps the most eye-opening aspect of this grandiose tournament every four years is how it can peel away the facade that certain teams have historically built up on the pitch.
Many fans accustomed to seeing the impeccably high level of the Premier League on a regular basis, for example, might have a hard time squaring an England side that has been trying—and failing—to bring the trophy home for much more than half a century. Germany has an envious amount of stars on its side yet has become fairly pedestrian in the dozen years since its last triumph and has needed numerous reboots of the national team since reunification. Many corners of the globe continue to overlook the quality coming out of Africa, which can certainly be dispelled this year by the federation placing nine of its 10 qualified teams into the knockouts.
