Europe Overcomes Slow Start to Match Best-Ever World Cup Performance Outside the Continent

A total of six European nations will compete in the quarter-finals of the 2026 FIFA World Cup. The strong performance of teams from the Old Continent was solidified by Switzerland's penalty shootout victory over Colombia last night.

This equals the record for the highest number of UEFA representatives at this stage of a World Cup held outside of Europe. According to renowned analytics and statistics company Opta, the last time this occurred was at the 1994 World Cup in the USA, a tournament fondly remembered by Bulgarian fans.

The only non-UEFA nation to reach the final back then was Brazil, who went on to win the title against Italy. Romania, Sweden, the Netherlands, Germany, Bulgaria, and Spain were the other quarter-finalists at the time. Thirty-two years later, only Spain has returned to the quarter-finals. On Friday, "La Roja" will fight for a semi-final spot against Belgium.

Historically, European teams have not performed well in World Cups held outside the continent, as analyzed by the BBC. Since 1930, teams from the Old Continent have triumphed only twice in such tournaments: Spain in South Africa in 2010 and Germany in Brazil four years later.

In 2018, six UEFA nations also reached the quarter-finals, but that World Cup was held in Russia, which is considered a European country. In 1998, there were also six European teams out of eight at the tournament in France. The same scenario was repeated in Germany in 2006. At the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, Brazil was the other non-European team in the quarter-finals, along with Argentina and Morocco.

As the 2026 World Cup has progressed, European teams have gained significant momentum. Their initially slow start caused some surprise, as seven of the first 10 European teams failed to win their opening group stage matches. However, they eventually found their rhythm, finishing the group stage with 17 wins, 12 draws, and only 7 losses against non-European opponents.

In the knockout stages, some European nations also impressed with their ability to overcome adversity. Much was made of England's difficult trip to the Azteca for their Round of 16 match against Mexico, where they had to contend with high altitude and a hostile crowd, but they overcame both to secure one of their most impressive victories.

Meanwhile, France overcame a physical Paraguay side, Erling Haaland and Norway knocked out Brazil, and Belgium defied home-crowd expectations and apparent political interference from Donald Trump to eliminate co-hosts USA in their Round of 16 clash. The icing on the cake was Switzerland's triumph over the Colombians.

It was always likely that Europe would have strong representation at this stage of the tournament, given its 16 World Cup berths—more than any other continent. However, with the expanded 48-team format and an additional knockout round, the dominance of European teams remains impressive.

Teams from the Old Continent also dominate the FIFA World Rankings, with five of the top eight being from Europe, four of whom have reached the last eight of the World Cup. Portugal, ranked seventh, was eliminated by Spain in an all-European Round of 16 match.