Asia (Japan and S Korea) hosted the 2002 FIFA World Cup. It was a World Cup that had upsets and surprises, but class tells, and there was a familiar winner of this tournament.
Much was expected of teams such as Argentina and France in the group stage. France was the defending champions and had some fine players, such as Zidane, Thierry Henry, and Patrick Vieira in their squad. Argentina was also one of the favorites to win the championship when they had Juan Sebastian Veron and Hernan Crespo in their team.
At any rate, neither team made the expected impact in the 2002 FIFA World Cup. Argentina’s defeat to England in the group stages left them on the brink of elimination as England progressed into the second round. Indeed, they did go out of the World Cup in their third game played. France also stumbled in their group against Senegal and took an early exit from a World Cup they were expected to go far in.
Brazil, however, made a more promising start to the World Cup. In their group, they began with a win over Turkey and then started to find great form in their further qualifying games. They scored five goals against Costa Rica, with Ronaldo in good form.
Few expected the hosts Rep Korea, would go that far in the World Cup. They finished top of their group, with the USA in second. Surprisingly, Portugal and Poland were left propping up the table.
The German thrashing of the Saudis by eight goals to zero was also a notable result in the World Cup, with a hat-trick from Miroslav Klose. They would end up topping their group to progress into the second stage.
In the knock-outs, the shock of the round came when the Koreans beat Italy 2-1. This was no fluke, as Spain would then be defeated on penalties in the quarter-finals to see Korea into the semi-finals.
Turkey was also a surprise package that made steady progress in the 2002 FIFA World Cup. A 1-0 win over Senegal in the quarter-finals was enough to reach the semi-finals of the event. Relative football minnows beforehand, they were now one game off the final.
Germany was not so impressive in their games against the likes of America. The USA were having their best World Cup, and only one German goal was enough for them to make the semi-finals.
Still, Brazil made good progress. In the quarter-finals, they played England. After going a goal down, they would win the game 2-1 to make the semi-finals against Turkey.
In the semi-finals, Germany and Brazil overcame two supposed minnows of the World Cup, 1-0 in each game. The heroes of Korea and Turkey played each other in the third-place play-off, with Turkey finishing third.
It was that the final included the World Cup giants Brazil and Germany. The game went Brazil’s way, as World Cup top scorer Ronaldo struck to make the score 2-0 overall and win a fifth World Cup for Brazil.
So, the 2002 World Cup was one of surprises and upsets. Credit must go to such teams as Turkey and South Korea for some notable results in the World Cup. However, a football festival ended with Brazil once again crowned champions.
With a goal-scoring average of 2.52 per game, the 2002 FIFA World Cup wasn’t an especially low-scoring one. However, it wasn’t a goal feast either. In terms of pure goal-scoring excitement, this wasn’t among the best World Cups in the tournament’s history, but compared favorably to Italia 90 at least.
What was really wrong with this World Cup was the dodgy refereeing. In fact, there were some of the most contentious refereeing ever seen in a World Cup. That was especially the case for S. Korea’s games against Italy and Spain. The dodgy refereeing in such games fuelled allegations of match fixing.
Japan and South Korea’s joint hosting of the 2002 FIFA World Cup didn’t necessarily work that well either. It was a rather tense arrangement with squabbles over the official mascot and other things. The logistical demands of hosting the tournament between two separate, non-bordering countries also generated hurdles for organizers and fans alike.
Still, it was a great 2002 FIFA World Cup for Brazil nonetheless. With seven wins out of seven, Brazil were undoubtedly the best team in the tournament. Brazil’s seven wins in a World Cup are a record number, which can now be potentially eclipsed in the expanded 48-team tournament.
If you love sports, download Stadium Rant from the Apple App Store and join one of the fastest-growing social sports communities. Be sure to follow us on socials too — you can find all our profiles on our Linktree.
