The Golden Generation of National Teams

The golden generation helped Belgium finish third at the 2018 FIFA World Cup, Belgium’s best-ever World Cup result, and in November 2015, it topped the FIFA World Ranking for the first time. The golden generation helped Spain win the 2008 and 2012 European Cups and the FIFA World Cup in 2010, becoming the first-ever team to win the World Cup and the intercontinental between the two sides championship. Under Joachim Low, the German national football team has finished in the top four in all major competitions, plus in 2014 they won their first world championship since Germany’s unification in 1990 and Reached the top of the FIFA world rankings for the first time in 20 years.

Football fans worldwide know that this England team never lived up to its potential. This Spanish team has many world records, which again confirms their claim to be the most significant golden generation in football history. The Brazil national football team defeated Sweden in the final 5–2, winning their first World Cup and a world title outside their continent. The Brazil national football team met with Spain; Brazil won 3-0 to secure their fourth Confederations Cup title in 2013; this win ended Spain’s 29 undefeated games record.

For Switzerland’s 1954 FIFA World Cup, the Brazilian national football team was almost completely revamped. The team’s colours changed (with a new design by Alder Schlee) from all-white to the national flag’s yellow, blue, and green colours. In 1966, Brazil lost, and in 1970, a fantastic team with great football brought Brazil back to victory. Brazil beat Italy 4-1 in the finals, where legendary player Pele started the scoring.

With David Beckham’s stoppage-time free-kick against Greece, this England team had just qualified for the 2002 World Cup only to be knocked out by legendary Brazil in the quarterfinals. Before the World Cup in 2002, England played in the Euro 2000, where Romania knocked them out, the scores were tied 2-2, and the match was heading to its end when the Romanian team was awarded a penalty. Romania won the game 3-2.

The 2002 World Cup final was between Germany and Brazil in Yokohama, with player Ronaldo scoring two goals in Brazil’s 2-0 victory. Preparations for the last match were overshadowed by the world’s best player, Ronaldo, who suffered a cramp hours before the game. Both the semi-finals and the quarterfinals were won 1-0. The scorer was also identical, Michael Ballack, but in the finals, their national team lost to four-time champions Brazil, who knew they would claim a historic place in the World Cup final.

In 2005, the Mexico Under-17 team achieved one of the greatest successes in football history; they won the world championship in their category, beating Brazil 3-0 in the final and earning everyone’s attention and recognition.

Who do you think will come out as a surprise in this year’s FIFA World Cup?