On a group by group basis the chances of any two teams qualifying for the last 16 were as follows;
Group A Group B Group C
Brazil – Mexico = 5/9 Netherlands – Chile = 9/9 Colombia – Ivory Coast = 2/3
Brazil – Croatia = 1/3 Colombia – Greece = 2/9
Mexico – Croatia = 1/9 Colombia – Japan = 1/9
Group D Group E Group F
Costa Rica – Italy = 2/3 France – Ecuador = 2/3 Argentina – Nigeria = 8/9
Costa Rica – Uruguay = 1/3 France – Switzerland = 1/3 Argentina – Iran = 1/9
Group G Group H
Germany – USA = 7/9 Belgium – Algeria = 2/3
Germany – Ghana = 1/9 Belgium – Russia = 2/9
USA – Portugal = 1/9 Belgium – Korea = 1/9
As it can easily be seen mathematics worked out well in 5 cases out of 8 with the remaining 3 groups giving us the second best probability.
Now as far as last 16 teams are concerned we have 8 out of 10 American Teams , 6 out of 13 European Teams and 2 out of 5 African Teams with no single Asian Team at all which means that Americans managed to be 80% efficient , Europeans only 46% efficiency and Africans with 40% efficiency. This is just another verification that money=football equation does not work at all. Michel Platini , head of UEFA , stated that he will put football in front of money when he was elected to be the President of UEFA. He was right outside europe but not necessarily in Europe.
As for the quarter finals it is any one’s guess since mathematically speaking each team has a 50% chance of eliminating his opponent. However mathematics may stop here since it is football.
These 48 matches evidently showed us that the more technology is brought to football the less referee mistakes are made hence the fairness of football is kept alive. So carry on watching this one of the most exciting FIFA tournaments ever organised.
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