Historically, why isn't England better?

[Crash Hamster]

To counter their argument, why isn't England better at football than they are?

I know nothing about current football, but England seem to have a good young side at the moment. I remember from my childhood that England didn't qualify for the World Cup in 74 or 78. Probably have a puncher's chance of winning it in Qatar.

Have a reasonable chance at the next RWC too, though a France- South Africa final would be a solid bet.

 

[ncurd]

To counter their argument, why isn't England better at football than they are?

Global game played by 250 million of which the world cup is played by the 'best' 640.

England had 1.8 million of those players or 0.8% of the worldwide playing population.

Reality is England is margin for error and 1 world cup is actually not a terrible return.

 

[Ragey Erasmus]

No but they're not as far behind in rugby than England are in soccer.

Like the question was essentially is the other country of more than 10mil that's primary sport is soccer and have been playing rugby seriously before the 80s more successful across the two sports. They definitely are.

I'm fairly sure we've had this thread and it's gone the exact same way before by the way. Getting mad de ja vu writing this post.

We play cricket too so got to add that in.

Thing with England is we are competitive in many sports but dominate none. Can't think of another country that has won world cups in 3 sports off the top of my head

 

[Redman7]

We play cricket too so got to add that in.

Thing with England is we are competitive in many sports but dominate none. Can't think of another country that has won world cups in 3 sports off the top of my head

Dont think that's a factor. Every country plays lots of other sports to a high level. Most sports don't have world cups either.

 

[ncurd]

We play cricket too so got to add that in.

Thing with England is we are competitive in many sports but dominate none. Can't think of another country that has won world cups in 3 sports off the top of my head

Also have to go back 25 years they (Team GB) didn't finish in the top 10 in the Olympics. Beijing onwards requires not dominance in a singular sport (although they have been some).

Reality is when taken as a whole the UK&NI are one the most successful sporting nations in the world in of the breath it covers and the level they compete at with less than 1% of the world population.

It helps we are one of richest nations and codified like all of sport. But when the press/government goes on about obeseity crisis and what not we actually have huge participation rates accross the board compared to a lot of countries.

 

[Leonormous Boozer]

We play cricket too so got to add that in.

Thing with England is we are competitive in many sports but dominate none. Can't think of another country that has won world cups in 3 sports off the top of my head

Australia have won four! Two rugby codes, cricket and field hockey, a good basketball team too, if they had soccer there'd be no question as to who the greatest sporting nation historically are. France are also strong in basketball, haven't won a world cup but I reckon it's far more difficult to than it is in cricket or rugby because of how much better the US and Spain are.

FWIW I don't agree with the OP, England are usually dominant in Europe with their strongest teams and middling when weaker, which is what I'd expect, a better record in World cup finals and it wouldn't be a question so it's essentially saying England are underachievers for losing one game every 8 years of so.

This all started because I thought posting oui would be funny, Jaysus.

 

[die_mole]

Also aren't France good at handball and volleyball? Lots of countries play lots of sports, very few specialize in only one (looking at you New Zealand).

 

[Pom in Exile]

Australia have won four! Two rugby codes, cricket and field hockey, a good basketball team too, if they had soccer there'd be no question as to who the greatest sporting nation historically are. France are also strong in basketball, haven't won a world cup but I reckon it's far more difficult to than it is in cricket or rugby because of how much better the US and Spain are.

FWIW I don't agree with the OP, England are usually dominant in Europe with their strongest teams and middling when weaker, which is what I'd expect, a better record in World cup finals and it wouldn't be a question so it's essentially saying England are underachievers for losing one game every 8 years of so.

This all started because I thought posting oui would be funny, Jaysus.

Well perhaps you should take some time to think about what you've done.

 

[Derpus]

We play cricket too so got to add that in.

Thing with England is we are competitive in many sports but dominate none. Can't think of another country that has won world cups in 3 sports off the top of my head

Won two world cups and stole the third on a technicality more like.

 

[Pom in Exile]

Won two world cups and stole the third on a technicality more like.

How very dare you.

 

[Ragey Erasmus]

Won two world cups and stole the third on a technicality more like.

Cheers, I'll add that to the list of things England apparently didn't deserve to win, as told in the book of antipodean whinging.

 

[Derpus]

Australia have won four! Two rugby codes, cricket and field hockey, a good basketball team too, if they had soccer there'd be no question as to who the greatest sporting nation historically are. France are also strong in basketball, haven't won a world cup but I reckon it's far more difficult to than it is in cricket or rugby because of how much better the US and Spain are.

FWIW I don't agree with the OP, England are usually dominant in Europe with their strongest teams and middling when weaker, which is what I'd expect, a better record in World cup finals and it wouldn't be a question so it's essentially saying England are underachievers for losing one game every 8 years of so.

This all started because I thought posting oui would be funny, Jaysus.

The ladies are pretty sharp in the football department.