EIGHT. That is the only number profit hunters need to concern themselves with when writing out the shortlist for potential winners of the 2022 World Cup. For that is the exact number of different countries that have managed to lift the prize in the 92-year running of the competition, a period that spans 21 tournaments.
In short, we are not looking for a needle in a haystack here. The nations in question all tended to have commonalities, too. The job is made considerably easier by the fact that one of the eight – Italy – has not even qualified for this year’s finals and another – Uruguay – last won the tournament in 1950 and can almost certainly be discounted from the reckoning. England could similarly be overlooked on the grounds that it is – as Scots know all too well – 56 years since their sole World Cup victory but their appearance in last year’s Euro 2020 final makes their case stronger than that of the South Americans.
