7 Countries That SHOULDN'T Be So Good At Football

[@jdalbion]

What's even more fascinating about Croatia is how good they're also in other sports... Silver medal at Olympics in Basketball back in 92' lost to USA Dream Team, and number of players in NBA every year. Won all medals in Handball, Waterpolo, won everything in Tennis and so on. Awesome athletes in every sport, one of the highest medals per capita at the Olympics, and so on.

[@petesmart1983]

Don't forget medals in skiing and winter sports to

[@antemlikota8760]

Don’t forget the legend Mirko Cro Cop. That guy did it all!

[@Sam-si4ip]

Sinkovic brothers in rowing aswell

[@danivuk2036]

@@IvanPribisalic Nick Saban

[@justfrank5661]

@@IvanPribisalic Belicheck is Croatian?? lol 😂 I didn’t know that!!!

[@Ben-tf4fk]

"Uruguay have never failed to qualify for the Copa América..." All 10 CONMEBOL teams automatically qualify for the Copa América, and always have (the only occasions teams didn't participate was when they voluntarily chose to withdraw, which Uruguay has done in 1925 and 1963). A far more impressive fact about Uruguay - they've hosted 9 international tournaments (one World Cup, 7 Copas América, and the 1980 Mundialito), and been champions every single time.

[@joegallagher9238]

That’s a crazy stat

[@jdalbion]

Yea also back at that time you finish like 1st in group and you're automatically in semi finals.. Also winner of draw games were determinated by cointoss and stuff like that.

[@alejandrofrade325]

​@@jdalbion as opposed to Englad who made a tournament to they could win it

[@jitox]

@@jdalbion you can do the same with almost any country that won a world cup pal. There are strange things in every one, yeah we had to beat bolivia to get to the final stage. But we destroyed the final stage anyway, no one seems to talk about talk, is always ohhh you beat bolivia 8 nill. Yeah but we destroyed afterwards. Also show me one match uruguay won by coin toss on the world cup plz

[@daarom3472]

@@jitox people have short memories. Spain progressed twice on penalties during their 3-peat (in 2010 and 2012). It could've easily been just the 2008 EC. 1998 we had the Ronaldo issue before the match. 2014 Germany beat Algeria in extra time and narrowly edged France 2016 France was way better than Portugal in the final and missed tons of chances etc. etc.

[@eXpertise7]

Came here because of Croatia! As Croatian I know that our guys with so bad facilities are prevailing obstacles and playing good football.

[@Chile-xo6do]

The opposite of mexico which has top quality stadiums but their football team sucks

[@Kourumeme]

Croatia is the new country since netherlands that rose out of nowhere

[@yannick245]

But I don't get why Croatia is ranked above Uruguay. Uruguay has the, a little bit, smaller population, but is overall much more successful successful. Being a double world champion and record Copa América winner. And Peñarol won the Copa Libertadores multiple times and the Intercontinental Cup trice. Croatian clubs lack international success. Was there a reason given on why Alfie ranked Uruguay behind Croatia?

[@juresibenik5281]

​@@yannick245 myb because Croatia has achived all this in the last 20 years, especially in the last 5 years. And on the other hand Urugvay has achived their best results 100 years ago lmao

[@NdbBrazil]

Thanks for eliminating my team in the WC ( Brazil )

[@seandelap8587]

Croatia reached the semi finals of the WC in 1998 and the final in 2018 when they lost to France which is a substantial achievement for such a small country can you imagine what they could have achieved as a nation had it been that bit larger than it currently is I mean with a population less than 4 million what they have achieved on the football stage is nothing short of phenomenal

[@CKZ.123]

Also 3rd place in last year international fifa world cup. I was for Croatia btw..

[@dominikivankovic63]

Yes, that was a pretty important point to mention in the video to show that our current generation isn't just a one-off thing, a lucky coincidence. I would even argue that the '98 generation was better (in terms of talent) than the current one. Upfront Šuker, Bokšić (as much as i love and respect Mandžukić, these two were something different, both class above Mandžukić), midfield of Boban, Prosinečki and Asanović doesn't fall behind the current midfield (Modrić, Brozović, Rakitić/Kovačić). And the back line with the likes of Bilić and Štimac was superior in qualiry than the 2018 one. That 1998 team had more chance to win the world cup and more quality. We even had the lead at the half time against the host France in the semi-final, later even one man up.... but then Lilian Thuram happened.... he played more than 140 games for France and scored only 2 goals in his 14 year long international career. Both of them in the second half against us to send France to the final where they sweeped the mentally weak Brazlians (all those problems with Ronaldo and other pressure, they were really not even a shadow of their true self in that final and I trully believe we would have beaten them also). I remember everyone was thinking here after that 98 generation left that there is no chance of us having a national team strong as that one or winning another WC medal ever again..... not that the current generation their bronze, they even went one step further and got silver. So I call for this tradition to continue, let the next generation, "which can never be as succesfull as thie current one, we are too small and this concentration of talent in one generation is impossible to ever happen again....", go also one step further and wins the so much desired gold medal.

[@lvsports8937]

In 1930 Yugoslavia ended up in the 4th place, I know it isn’t exactly Croatia or the Croatians alone but it was also an achievement worth noting.

[@joelsimunic7381]

they lost in 2018 in the final against France, which was represented at that tournament with its ten colonies.

[@burntnikesock212]

Yugoslavia would dominate in damn near every sport these days if it still existed

[@Anchyy1171]

I like that what you said about Croatia, but legit everyone forgets to mention the 1998 World cup where we finished third after the war ended in 1995.

[@thenbafan10]

That was Epic

[@ytubeu7450]

Šuker, Boban, Prosinečki..

[@diegopons4622]

I love watching Croatia play. Luka Modric is an all-time great. But what amazes me about Croatia is that they're not just great in football. Their athletic achievements reach so many other sports like: basketball, water polo, MMA, etc. You can tell that it's deep in their culture. And they've had to overcome a lot in the past few decades. The Croats are tough. ❤

[@realnigga3618]

im croatian and i love Nunez

[@Prasko131]

It's amazing how Croatia produced so many world class midfielders the past years in Modric, Rakitic, Brozovic and Kovacic

[@yannick245]

Nothing but respect for Croatia, but: I don't get why Croatia is ranked above Uruguay. Uruguay has the, a little bit, smaller population, but is overall much more successful successful. Being a double world champion and record Copa América winner. And Peñarol won the Copa Libertadores multiple times and the Intercontinental Cup trice. Croatian clubs lack international success. I don't remember. Was there a reason given on why Alfie ranked Uruguay behind Croatia?

[@Jung_hatte_recht]

​​@@yannick245 Because the Republic of Croatia has only existed since 1991. Moreover, today's football cannot be compared to the football of 1930 and 1950.

[@myristicina.]

the ic’s.

[@prodbydonat6595]

@@yannick245 The Republic of Croatia was only recognised by FIFA since 95

[@yannick245]

@@prodbydonat6595 So? In a hundred years, Uruguay will still not show up in the list of World Cup or EUROS winners. Uruguay on the other hand forever will. All the guys here in the comment section are just very young and impressed by the latest success of Croatia. At one point everything just becomes history. The World Cup 1950, where Brazil lost against Uruguay in the Maracanã, was still playing a big part of the public conscience until recently. It's getting now replaced by the 1-7 against Germany in 2014. Nicknamed the _"Mineiraço"._ Fun fact: The _"Maracanaço",_ Brazil losing 1-2 to Uruguay in 1950, had an attendance record of 250,000 people. Which was equal to 10% of the whole population of Uruguay. At least two Brazilian fans committed suicide inside the stadium.

[@danielm6319]

You forget 1998 FIFA World Cup Croatia won bronze and Davir Šuker won a Golden boot with 6 goals...

[@matejuzel1572]

In Croatia's case, people often need to see the bigger picture to understand our success so I appreciate that you made some really good points. Croatia is very small but extremely diverse in terms of geography and climate and we are encouraged to try different team sports, martial arts, rowing, swimming, skiing, climbing etc... Football is played in every corner of the country - on the street among parked cars, in the local park, on the beach and just about anywhere we can find a flat (ish) surface. No matter how tight or small the play area. That develops technique which on par with our physicality and pronounced competitiveness gives us a slight edge in almost every sport. Then, on top of that, we have a long football tradition, good youth development, players easily progress (and acclimate) to the top European leagues, and as a bonus, our diaspora population pool is fairly large and their sense of national pride is just as strong as ours in the homeland. All these factors are much more important than sheer population size. At least in my opinion :).

[@johnf321]

Hi from Canada 🇨🇦 excellent comment Za lijpu nasu

[@danielmedjedovic7068]

yea as well keeping the yugoslav tradition (hardwork), its a factor why croats as well serbs are great in sports (croats best in football obviously).

[@jonelova]

@@danielmedjedovic7068 “yugoslavian (communist)?hardworking tradition”?! 😂🤣😂🤣

[@danielmedjedovic7068]

@@jonelova why you laugh? yugoslavia did push and made the athlets work hard. the tradition exist still in Croatia and Serbia etc

[@t0masicaaa_]

@@danielmedjedovic7068 hardwork isnt a tradition, its a choice which most people in croatia choose, nothin to do with yugo

[@XLRAshon]

Croatia are more over achievers right now than Portugal. Croatia has qualified for 6 world cups and finished 3rd place or better in three world cups. That’s literally half their entire world cups they played in!!! No country on Earth can boast that stat! Brazil comes close to getting 4th or better in half their world cups. Also Croatia in the 2022 world cup, only a small number of players played in 2018. They reloaded their talent big time!!

[@mike.cdn7212]

As a Portuguese myself, I knew Portugal would eventually make this list but I didn't think they would make first. I have no problem if Croatia would be ahead of Portugal. The Croatia story is quite incredible!

[@bandulad7695]

Rakitic is one of the most underrated players in the last 10 years in my opinion.

[@DakiOG]

Pa kad Raketic nabije loptu,lopta leti kao raketa do navijača😂

[@Seki1987]

@@DakiOG kzbin.info/www/bejne/rJyTiXaEp76dh6s A plači!

[@andrej8428]

Hey Alfie, here's a video suggestion coming from a Croat himself. You should take a look at Croatian national team history from 2016 onwards ( covering 2 world cup medals, 2 Euros and Nations league final). Story behind every single one of those is very interesting and unconventional. The team barely qualified for 2018 World cup and always underachieves in Qualifiers. There are also stories about hiring Zlatko Dalić as a coach before the crucial qualifying game and our Euros are quite remarkable as well

[@danielm6319]

Hey Andrej. I think it's actually, since opening match against Brasil at 2014 FWC (and also 4-0 against Cameroon).

[@Picobeat]

both top 2 are super impressive, Croatia with the population and conditions they have on their home leagues sure do impressive achievements, Portugal on the other hand also with much lower population than England and Germany etc does an impressive production of talent.

[@pellevanlig245]

Croatian success is totally based on pure talent and on Dinamo Zagreb´s academy.

[@juresibenik5281]

​@@pellevanlig245 Well that fact has start to change nowadays. Hajduk Split academy has overrun Dinamos in the last 4 years. Hajduk Split U19 is currently in the semifinal od the champions league, and Hajduk is holding the first place in all other young categorys in Croatian football at the moment. Such as U15 U17 U19.

[@pellevanlig245]

@@juresibenik5281 Are you aware of the fact what standard did Dinamo´s academy and their juniors had by playing internationally for almost 2 last decades? How many final 4 did they reach in Ch.L. ? Is it even comparable?

[@juresibenik5281]

@@pellevanlig245 Well they v reached 0 final fours. They were in the quaterfinals 2 times tho. With Gvardiol and Olmo generation. But semifinal never.

[@bconni2]

there seems to be a bit of a debate between Portugal and Croatia for the top spot. perhaps this little fact will settle it.? all time record between the two Portugal has the edge with 6 wins 1 draw and ZERO losses against Croatia. and a goal differential of 11, with 15 scored and only 4 conceded. to sum it it up, up to this point in time Portugal basically own Croatia in football.

[@josecipriano3048]

I foresaw Portugal being featured on the list. The only thing you forgot to mention is that Portugal also benefits from its colonial past in terms of players.

[@traytonerickson-paul4042]

most if not all countries do

[@F1Krazy]

He did say he was going to stop bring up colonialism after the first three countries.

[@maciejbala477]

@@traytonerickson-paul4042 definitely not all, as hardly all countries have had colonies, but yes, those who did typically do.

[@danivuk2036]

@@traytonerickson-paul4042 Croatia was a colony up until 1990. Just sayin....

[@franz009franz]

that's every western european nation though. some more than others though *FRANCE*

[@chuchuokeke]

Croatia, quality over quantity. A certain Rimac Automobili comes to mind. Maybe Nigeria needs a Croatian coach. Lol

[@Josip9888]

I believe the Croatian coach would change the Nigeria team. They are full of talent, yet they represent themselves as lazy on the field. Few speeches with the meaning of national pride and patriotism, and they would run on that field like their lifes depending on it. Hopefully, African teams will step up and bring games more to the competitive stage. Morroco is an example it's possible. They just need to stop respecting other teams out of "fear" and go and kick their ass. Ghana is also a great example. Too bad they were "too nice " and lost that game va Uruguay.

[@vickobuntic]

That would be huge pain in the head for any Croat as Nigeria coach. 12y old kids in Croatia has more tactical knoweldge than most Nigerian seniors. No offense.

[@Meerkat73]

Very objective list (as always) and being a Croat I am filled with pride for our national team. Thanks, Alfie.

[@maxkho00]

Sorry to say but I see no objective reason why Uruguay should be ranked below Croatia. Historically speaking, I think it's pretty clear that Uruguay comes out on top, and even in recent years, the amount of talent produced by Uruguay at the very least rivals that produced by Croatia, if not exceeds it. In any objective ranking, Uruguay ranks above Croatia and, if history is emphasized, perhaps even above Portugal.

[@tonino5268]

​@@maxkho00 how is it objective if it's your opinion? Croatia exists from 1991 Eligible to play in wc from 1998 Won wc medals in 3 out of 6 wcs Not even close

[@kageryu311]

​@tonino52 Trophies won by Uruguay are objective. They won 2 World Cups, 15 Copa Americas and 2 Olympic golds. Croatia hasn't won any trophies and 2nd and 3rd place medals don't count.

[@tonino5268]

@@kageryu311 don't count? Haha everything counts in life, are you dumb? + wcs were in 1930 and 1950 where especially first one 8 countries played, and travelled for months on a boat to get to uruguay, the home country Croatia's achievements were made in globalised football where every country plays professionally, 32 teams play in a tournament. And that doesn't count on your genious opinion? You really are not the sharpest tool in the shed as I see

[@pachycephalosauruslover14]

@@kageryu311 Because they're not very good recently, and Croatia is. Fifa rankings don't take history into account

[@supersueca1]

While speaking about Portuguese coaches, you really should have mentioned Abel Ferreira, who is doing a great job (and would for certain be Brazil´s first foreign national team coach if he wanted) at Palmeiras with back to back wins in Libertadores and 7 trophies won in little more than two years.

[@seinaumaluco]

it was an impressive job, also because Palmeiras doesn't have a cast of stars like Flamengo (Stars at the national level of course)

[@pellevanlig245]

Yes, respect to the Portuguese coaches that make miracles in the Brazilian league.

[@PerfectOxygen]

Because of Jorge Jesus and Abel Ferreira, everyone wants Portuguese coaches now

[@helicopterhelicopter8651]

@@PerfectOxygen not really, in fact this is where i feel alfie failed in this list, quality portuguese coaches are very scarce, you've got Rúben Amorim, Sérgio Conceição, Mourinho, Marco Silva, Abel Ferreira and the list ends there. The only places they typically succeed is in secondary leagues (no disrespect to them) like brazilian league or arab leagues

[@fernandocosta7784]

@@helicopterhelicopter8651 Portugueses coaches won the english league, the french league, the italien league, the brasilien league and a lot of others leagues, in Asia and Africa and you wrote they only succeed in secondary leagues ...? Bad words Oh Nice ... and disrespectfull ones, showing ignorance or bad faith ...

[@acheekymeesh]

I feel like the Faroe Islands need a video of their own

[@israteeg752]

Actually, IMO , Croatia's achievements are more impressive considering that they do not have talent streaming in from former colonies as does Portugal.

[@artonio5887]

I don't get this logic. Just because france or portugal or other european countries who had colonies have a lot of african/etc descendent players in their squad, doesn't change the fact that these player were taught in the academies, culture and enviornment of the countries they play for. Trying to discredit the football of countries that had colonies by implying that their colony descendent players aren't "real" nationals of the country seems just disrespectful to those players. And if the issue is people who change nationality, that shit also happens for countries that didn't have colonies. What makes good footballers and teams is not genetics, it's spirit, culture and the academies.

[@israteeg752]

@@artonio5887 The logic is very simple: Croatia has a relatively small population , so they have a smaller talent pool to chose from, yet reach great results in sports. Counties with former colonies grant them citizenship, so accordingly, they have a larger talent pool to chose from. It's just factual info . That is all. I've mentioned nothing about merit to citizenship or any disrespect for their talent. Indeed many counties have players who changed or gained a new nationality , but it's usually one or two per squad. With countries like Portugal or Swiss , or France there are just many more migrants per team than Croatia.

[@buzzerbeaterbuzzerbeater9001]

@@artonio5887 Try with genetics, maybe like superb atleticism which we saw in players like Henry, M bappe , Trezeguet, Evra, Kounde, Cisse and many many more... I meanfor instance, who are the best runners/sprinters from 100m to 5000m ? Or the most atletic NBA/NFL players( todays modern football is mostly based on athletism and technique btw) I would say it s our afro (american or european) brothers and sisters... That s just basic genetics, nothing wrong with that, just mother nature :) But this " gift" is normally not given to us white Europeans, and thank god we are not all equal because diversity is in reality the beauty and variety of mother nature i would say.. The thing is only, former or actual superpowers like England, US, France , Germany and so on mostly have players with different etnic background, what also means with other genetics from nearly all over the world, where as most other football national teams worldwide play with nearly 100% origin players from their let s say tribe, not even nation.

[@Khigha87]

It is wild how this went on the tangent it did! I understood the initial point perfectly. Croatia has been very efficient in developing and managing the modest talent pool they have. Efficiency, in my book, should always be applauded. Unless there's a downside to doing more with less that I'm not privy to. Talent and genius are mostly evenly distributed but the means to maximise on that talent aren't. The initial comment literally did not make mention of genetics and colonialism apart from using the latter to drive home the point of talent pool size. We need to be better than this as people. Start your own thread to voice your opinions (which are as valid as any), don't project your views on to others' comments.

[@nifynitm]

@@artonio5887 im not reading all that but its simple. more colonies means more population and higher odds of a super star team

[@Batman-hb9dh]

Croatia has a football culture comparable to Brazil, just not as many people

[@aeyes1314]

maybe a little less, we arent as crazy as them about football

[@hshwbwwbw3956]

Not even near

[@Darmani2MB]

I don't know. In Brazil even the priest and the nuns of the local church play well.

[@bconni2]

i'd make the argument that Portugal has the football culture comparable to Brazil. makes more sense when you consider just how good Portugal is for a small nation, and they also have strong cultural ties with Brazil.

[@nicoschmidt7618]

@@bconni2 I think claiming any country has the culture of Brazilian football is wild. Even as an Argentine we don't compare (although it is hard for me to say)

[@losteden6390]

Croatia had an incredibly talented team in 98 . They came third and could have gone all the way then too.. a team that had players like Suker, Boksic (who didn't even make the tournament through injury), Jarni, Boban, Prosinecki - those were some of the best and most technically players in the world in their positions at the time. They were always super talented ....

[@garioldwin]

Maradona grandmother was Croatian and Novak Djokovic mother is Croatian and Zlatan Ibrahimovic has Croatian mother too.

[@ivancvrljak9382]

And Nikola Tesla mother was Croatian and he was born in Croatia 🇭🇷🇭🇷🇭🇷

[@zalegalizaciju434]

​@@ivancvrljak9382kakve sad to veze ima? Daj se ne brukaj...😅

[@charlesclinton3305]

I'm glad you mentioned Senegal in the honorable mentions, although I personally would have put them on the list. One country that wasn't mentioned that I feel should be is Costa Rica. Made several World Cups in a row and consistently punched above their weight for a country of less than 5 million people.

[@lvsports8937]

They took Holland to penalties in 2014

[@0047sssss]

The only reason they didn't make to South Africa 2010 was because that time the Concacaf playoff was with Uruguay

[@hajduksplit_913]

It is important to mention that beside 4 Million Croats in Croatia there are another 3-4 Million outside Croatia. This is still less then London or Paris but it is important because our diaspora gave us always good sportsmen. Ivan Rakitić for Example, Josip Šimunić, Ivan Klasnić, Kovač Brothers or nowdays Josip Stanišić, Luka Sučić, Gabriel Vidović. Many young Croats mostly born and raised in Germany or Austria. And we didnt even talked about the -500k Croats from Bosnia and Hercegovina. You have players like Lovren, Šutalo or our Coach Dalić from there. 🇭🇷🇭🇷🇭🇷

[@mranonymous8815]

Well half of the team has Bosnian roots.

[@hajduksplit_913]

​@@mranonymous8815 Bosnia is a Multiethnic Country 👍🏻 no hate, just facts!

[@bluespot3332]

Idemo Hajduk

[@lulucija]

Our base outside is for sure not 3-4 million people since most of it are acutally in USA and South America with at least 3 or 4 generations living there and not participating at all in our football or any other sport. Besides Croatia and croatian population in Bosnia and Herzegovina we can for sure count only on recent croatian immigrants to DACH countries (500+ k people) and maybe, big maybe Australia as we had some players coming from down under (Šimunić, Šerić, Didulica) but we also missed some, most notably Mark Viduka (thanks God he lives in Zagreb today). On the longterm we can count only on those "europeans" Croats because they are the real one, having still connection with Croatia and they are hard to assimilate, even 3rd generation born in Austria, Germany and Switzerland wants to play for Croatia only.

[@derekvanbloemen8415]

Hey man in talking about Croatia’s success I don’t know where yo get incredible mental strength but Croatians are physically stronger than other Europeans. Sportsmen from the whole Dinaric area have had much more success in many different sports and sportsmen like Djokovic and Ibrahimovic are half Croatian. Croatia also has no good stadium nor finances. Keep up the good work.

[@ytubeu7450]

CRO COP. 💪 STIPE MIOČIĆ

[@bijou201]

Don't forget the fact that Croatia had never ever have a past of colonies!! So Croatia should and IS a number 1. There's been a lot of scientific research of Balkan's "DNA" when it comes to sports...it's a crazy combo + their way of living and being ("family"...never give up) it is a winner. Croatia tops a lot of major sports, esp team sports agaist all odds. If they could have a population of Brazil and money that France has - they would be at top of the world in any sport. Amazing country idd.

[@vlonac7733]

It's really simple to settle the debate for the top spop: Croatian never had any colonies.

[@Loki-jm9qi]

Croatia deserves the number 1 spot and uruguay next!! Their population is way lower than Portugal and they deserve top spots!! Portugal just won 1 euros and their management keeps messing it up!!

[@omarbarry2063]

I believe that gambia should be a honorable mention. A country of 1 million people but yet we qualify as the lowest rank team to ever qualify for African cup of nations and reach the quarterfinals. Not to mention our youth team always seem to punch above their weight.

[@Axeldiedtimeago]

So many hidden gem Gambian players on FM.

[@Spinna720]

Tbh the national team hasn't been the best until lately, only our youth teams, but the future definately looks bright for us in football, Insha'Allah we'll rise to the top of african football 🔝

[@Triantalex]

As a German I appreciate the inclusion of the Faroe islands in this list! ❤😁

[@seandelap8587]

Portugal has always had well structured underage acadamies for football which most likely explains the abundant of talent that country has produced I mean just look at how well Benfica are doing with a lot of their young stars because what they lack in money they make up for in producing skills and talents

[@cro_wiz]

And don't forget that Croatia has no former colony speaking the same language that happens to be the number one football nation in the world with lots of talent relocating and playing in that league. Which is why I think that 1st and 2nd place got mixed up in that ranking.

[@violoncelo1000]

When Portugal won in 2016, most of the players were formed in Sporting! If you look at the game in the final against France, 10 players were formed in Sporting! Cristiano Ronaldo included)

[@violoncelo1000]

And Sporting isn't just a football team, he has almost every sport you can imagine.. Not many clubs in the whole world, are so big as they are.. They have thousands of atlethes.

[@cro_wiz]

@@violoncelo1000 you really wanna start comparing CRO and POR in other Sports, where BRA imports play no role? Eg. Handball, Basketball, Waterpolo, Skiing, Tennis, … don’t think that is a good idea for POR ;-)

[@violoncelo1000]

@@cro_wiz Roller Hokey, Beach Football, Futsal, Marathon (2 olympic gold medals, male and female) 10.000 m gold medals, world champions, canoeing, even in alpinism.. Portugal is bigger than you think, and i didn't even started whith the full list..

[@thomasjohnson2862]

Video suggestion: how the Ukrainian Premier League has been doing during wartime. It's still running with all its teams, with matches played behind closed doors, occasionally matches are stopped by air raid sirens. I watched Dynamo Kyiv play Rennes in the Europa League in Krakow, and although Dynamo could have played all night and not scored, for Ukraine to have its teams still playing in European competition is a big deal. Also would be interested to know how the UPL is funded, which men are allowed to be football players and which ones have to join the army, and more. EDIT - also, some foreign players are still signing for UPL clubs, which is interesting they’re still willing to play there and that their safety has been sufficiently guaranteed.

[@soundscape26]

This would be a good topic for a video indeed.

[@tommyvinceze6249]

Great shout

[@FozzQuaker]

One thing I was wondering about that, is conscription and a draft being used for the Ukrainian Armed Forces, if so what's the eligibility criteria and which groups are exempted from the draft... I remember in the opening days, all adult men between 18 and 60 were barred from exiting the country... Would jobs like professional football players come under a reserved occupation, thus taking them out of a Draft process and what about Ukrainians abroad, could they be called back for mandatory service to defend the motherland I'm sure South Korea do expect ex-pats to come back and complete a couple of years National Service

[@donthaveagoodusername5345]

I Heard somewhere as well that Shakhtar Donetsk is playing it’s home matches in Kyiv, is that true, and if not does anyone know where they play their home matches?

[@soundscape26]

@@donthaveagoodusername5345 They are playing in Kyiv for the domestic league yes. And in Warsaw for European fixtures.

[@gothia1715]

As a German every time we get knocked out from a Tournament (what we excell at these days) im rooting for the Dutch and Croatia. Both of them really deserve some titles.

[@Malac1998aaaaAaaaaa]

So proud to be Croat! I hope we will win that Word Cup soon, we deserve it more than anyone.

[@Malac1998aaaaAaaaaa]

@@bublidub5329 but Team!

[@brunomedic3612]

In Croatia as kids we used to play all kinds of sports everywhere. We didn't need all those modern facilities to play. If we didn't have ball we would play with some empty bottle or anything we would find. That is how you make stars. Not by forcing your kid to play or do sth for money. That is why we are so good.

[@leonardoflorentin]

you should have ended your comment with "mother fuckers" LOL so true.

[@arcanegale285]

@@leonardoflorentin He's got a point tho, when I was a kid there would be like 10ish boys in my hometown and all would come out and play football on the street using 2 bricks as goalposts in the street. If you notice a car you gotta pick up the bricks and move outta the way hastily We could've gone to an actual pitch half a kilometer away but we wouldn't get to use it because older guys would use it as their grounds, so you had to make do.

[@crazehsmile]

Just so you know, when you see a Š in south Slavic languages it's pronounced as "sh" in English 🙂

[@zomfgwtfpwnage]

I'm Croatian so I'm going to be biased but your number 1 pick makes no sense with the title of the list and that is countries that SHOULDN'T be so good at football . Portugal shouldn't be good at football? A country with two champion's league winning teams, insanely developed football infrastructure AND 10m+ population AND the ability to draw talent from Brazil and several of their colonies? I agree that it's not talked enough how overachieving Portugal is, but I feel like you wanted to prove that point so much you put them 1st while they should have just been in the middle of the list.

[@anterofernandes3501]

but is it supposed a country with 10m to be a World powerhouse? Croatia have a good national team, but Portugal is an other step level. Look the world class players and the nations and clubs performances. is it comparable??

[@stevepercival7415]

I've seen that in the Botswana league the prison XI are playing the police XI. Thought a good idea for a video would be the best XI from people who have been in prison.

[@yusufkassim8236]

Lol definitely gonna get him demonitised with that video

[@maciejbala477]

how about the best XI from people who have been in the police?

[@lovre9038]

🇮🇹🇪🇸🇵🇹🇧🇷🇦🇷🇭🇷Warm climate ✅ Good food ✅ Beaches ✅ Catholic(religious)✅ Patriotic ✅ Loves football✅ seems to be the winning combo, idk why people are suprised that we 🇭🇷 are good at football, kids grow up playing football on the streets its part of the culture

[@danielm6319]

Yes but we don't speak Romance lamguages as they're.

[@kageryu311]

You don't need to be catholic to be good at football.

[@lovre9038]

@@kageryu311 by catholic i meant religious

[@hughcrosthwait5497]

How do you conclude that when Belgium, the Netherlands, and Denmark have terrible weather, terrible food, and are among the least religious countries in the world?

[@lovre9038]

@@hughcrosthwait5497 i never said that the other countries arent good, i just said that the above seems to be the winning combo, 🇦🇷wc22 🇮🇹euro20 🇫🇷wc18 🇵🇹euro16 🇪🇸euro12 wc10 euro08 🇮🇹wc06 🇧🇷wc02... Etc I count france as part of this group as well cause they check all the boxes, except their players are more muslim nowdays than catholic but it still counts as religious

[@BalkanCrusader]

With Croatia, the only logical explanation for sport success is genetics. For more than 1000 years, Croats were constantly fighting for ourselves and for others. Huns,Venice,Byzant,Bulgars,Franks,Austrians,Hungarians, Germans,Ottomans,Serbians, they all wanted to take this small part of land and sea under their control. Even Napoleon had huge respect for Croats as warriors.

[@pellevanlig245]

Genetics and nothing else.

[@myristicina.]

@@pellevanlig245 facts

[@pedrodelrioneira2702]

Wouldn't bosnia be just as good, by your logic? And Poland the best sporting nation in Europe?

[@zalegalizaciju434]

​@@pedrodelrioneira2702what Poland has to do with Croatian talent and genetics? I help you,NOTHiNG ..😅

[@buzzerbeaterbuzzerbeater9001]

@@pedrodelrioneira2702 Bosnia H. is mostly croatian kingdom historically, and Poles may only concure in fighting, no ball sports at all..

[@meoonly4989]

Croatia is already miracle,but if there wasnt France standing always in the way it would be even bigger,especially in handball and football..its crazy since croatia is kinda hedonistic country,everyone is smoking and drinkin coffee half of a day

[@JeanBernard]

our best players were strong smokers, like Prosinečki and Slišković Imagine, they would have lived like real sportsmen...

[@Seki1987]

As a Croatian, please keep telling us where we should be, it is our major inspiration

[@justarandomnobody7451]

Just on Croatia, one could argue an Aussie team made up of croats could take on quite a few challengers. Bosnich hrovat jedinak popovich spiranovich zelic skoko bresciano culina viduka Krncevic Remarkably talented sportspeople these croats.

[@jdalbion]

Also best USA player currently, Croatian haha

[@hillclimbracingfan5821]

@@jdalbion So not exactly American then.

[@yannick245]

Nothing but respect for Croatia, but: I don't get why Croatia is ranked above Uruguay. Uruguay has the, a little bit, smaller population, but is overall much more successful successful. Being a double world champion and record Copa América winner. And Peñarol won the Copa Libertadores multiple times and the Intercontinental Cup trice. Croatian clubs lack international success. I don't remember. Was there a reason given on why Alfie ranked Uruguay behind Croatia?

[@hillclimbracingfan5821]

@@yannick245 It’s based on recent achievements and not on something that was 70 years ago.

[@jdalbion]

@@yannick245 Probably because of modern times, it's not the same to win WC back in 30' and now in modern times. Back in those years, you top the group and you're in the semi-finals... Now, even passing a group is a huge success. Croatia won a medal at 50% of the WC that they qualified for (missed just qualifications for 1 wc), that is some stat.

[@RicardoMatias21]

In terms of results Croatia is the best nation according to population. In terms of star players Portugal is the best country according to population.

[@anterofernandes3501]

where is the croatian titles?

[@zalegalizaciju434]

​@@anterofernandes3501statistics don't lie, statistics is a science... the number of participants is divided by medals... that's how success is counted, not titles... Dummy!

[@Dyss89]

I would think Luxembourg would deserve a mention, too. They have been steadily improving and performing on a consistent level given their size and population of just over 600,000 or so.

[@semvanderheijden3121]

Kosovo aswell

[@alexdelarge7252]

@@semvanderheijden3121 Kosovo is not a country.

[@niklas5771]

I believe it is a bit too easy to argue that the smallest nations deserve a spot. It feels to me that we automatically assume that the relation between having a good team and number of citizens is linear, which it probably isn't at all. Seems that it doesn't matter too much if the country has 80 million or 800 million but it matters more if the country has 8 million or 80 million. similarily i believe it doesn't matter that much if the country has 1 million or 200k citizens. If you compare croatia with its 5 million to luxembourgh with its 600k it doesn't seem like luxembourgh is overachieving.

[@exsandgrounder]

​@@alexdelarge7252 Kosovo's gained recognition as a country from 101 other countries. Even if it hadn't, it wouldn't be a bar to competing in international football- just look at the Faroe Islands (who, of course, feature in this video) and Gibraltar, then England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland all compete separately rather than as the UK.

[@pachycephalosauruslover14]

@@alexdelarge7252 Even Vučić is recognizing Kosovo, just shut up...

[@chrissao_502]

I know the Feroe Islands pyramid is mostly made up of 2nd and even 3rd teams, but it's still WILD that 48 men's teams and 15 women's team in a region of just around 54,000. Meanwhile, in the US, there are cities with over 350,000 that don't have that men's adult teams even if you combined rec/Sunday league and semi-pro.

[@Goggarin1991]

And there have been even more teams then there are now, because of smaller teams in neighbouring villages merging into one.

[@zombievikinggaming4258]

The fact Portugal, Greec and Denmark even won a Euros, is incredibly impressive also. They're nations like a quarter the size of say Argentina, yet managed to win. They're not tiny Croatia, but still.

[@juresibenik5281]

Well to be honest. Denmark is tinyer than Croatia in football terms because of croatian immigration pool which is bigger than the actually croatian population. So truth is croatia has a pool of 9 million people to choose from and not 4. Stanišić, Lovren, Pašalic, Kovačić, Sučić, Šutalo they were all born outside of Croatia. And thats just a current team. I probably also forget to mention 1 or 2 players.

[@atlantictherapymadeira6874]

I mean, a tad difficult for Argentina to win the Euros ...

[@Hilversumborn]

As a Dutchman with a Uruguayan grandfather, this list makes me very happy.

[@rexmfalme9781]

If you include the Faroe Islands, you might as well include Caboverde and Comoros Islands who recently quaöif8ed and performed very well in the Last few AFCONs. Which makes me think: countries beginning with C seem to overperform in Football

[@maciejbala477]

China? :p

[@Misanthropist-s8i]

Comors produce nothing honestly They are just hunting for their players in France

[@aeyes1314]

Chad?

[@tb_2024-q5p]

An additional phenomenon is that the most of Croatian national team members are from Bosnia and Herzegovina, where 500k Croats live.

[@don_peleon]

Famous people you may know that have Croatian origins: John Malkovich, Eric Bana, Joe Manganiello, Jenna Elfman, Judah Friedlander, Tony Robbins, Lorde, Guy Mitchell, Michael Bublé, George Mikan, Rudy Tomjanovich, John Havlicek, Kevin McHale, Stipe Miočić, Bill Belichick, Pete Carroll, David Diehl, Zlatan Ibrahimović, Mark Viduka, Diego Armando Maradona, Christian Pulisic, Roger Maris, Mickey Lolich, George Chuvalo, Joe Sakic, Marc-Édouard Vlasic, Nikola Karabatić..........

[@JeanBernard]

...musicians David Paich (Toto), Walter Parasaider (Chicago), actor Rick Rossovich, famous NHL star Frank Mahovlich, Balon d'or winner 1967 Florian Albert (croatian mother), former austrian premier Fred Sinowatz, Red Bull owner Robert Matteschitz, German film director Werner Herzog ( born Stipetić)...and many more

[@juang.9007]

Ever considered ranking the best historical XI of every nation? I know every XI would be debatable, but just imagine Portugal with Eusebio and Ronaldo up front

[@ChubbyChecker182]

Good idea, My top 7 would probably be... 1. Brazil (Ronaldo, Ronaldinho, Pele, Garrincha, Junior, Zico, Carlos, etc) 2. France (Platini, Zidane, Henry Desaily, etc) 3. Argentina (Maradona, Messi, Batistuta etc)...(2 GOATS, but lacking a bit for the rest of the XI where France are stronger) 4. Germany (Beckenbauer, Matthaus, Muller etc) 5. Netherlands (Cruyff, Van Basten, Guillet etc) 6. Italy (Maldini, Pirlo, Baggio etc) 7. England (Moore, Gascoigne, Charlton etc). Spain were great for those 6 years but I just don't think their top 11 is as good as the more historical reach of players of the teams above for example.

[@Jothamvvw]

Bruh, how do people consistently only misspell Dutch names and forget umlauts on German names. It's Gullit, Matthäus and Müller, how hard can it be? (Also officially Cruijff and not Cruyff, but I'll let that one slide as that's a relatively consistent internationalisation)

[@kinidiosodlosios6892]

Croatian all time can beat them adding Suker Prosinecki Boban Simic Boksic Eduardo to this squad

[@joekavanagh7171]

I would love to see a combined West Indies team (as in cricket). With the combined talents of Jamaica, Trinidad and other countries, I think they would have a formidable team which would qualify for most World Cups

[@jonelova]

Zlatko Dalić, Croatia’s coach, used to be assistant to (late 😢) Miroslav Ćiro Blažević, who lead the national team to the World Cup bronze medal in 1998. Dinamo Zagreb’s academy is brilliant - even the talented Dani Olmo (Spain) came to live in Zagreb, even learned Croatian (an amazing achievement) to benefit from Dinamo’s Academy (so did many, just like his friend Josko Gvardiol and the amazingly talented and even more hard working Luka Modrić, my 2 favourite Croatian players, just as many more). And the team spirit, loving their homeland in a special way, totally dedicated to playing for their country and their people. That’s just something money cannot buy. ❤🇭🇷❤

[@Yusni-bc2cm]

It has to be noted that the reason why Denmark barely made a remarkable record until the 80s is because the DFB didn't allow professional players to play for the national team until 1971.

[@danielm6319]

Also FSJ (Yugoslavia) as well.

[@EhabAlatipi]

My bad for thinking that mentioning the Faroe islands was a joke by Alfie, but then I was impressed by their record!

[@SteveRadich1928]

CROATIAN BLOOD = WORLD CHAMPION

[@davyanilhaq2465]

*STOP BEING SALTY ALFIE IT WAS ALREADY 5 YEARS AGO, BLAME THE ENGLAND TEAM FOR NOT SCORING MORE GOALS IN THAT GAME, VATRENI IS THE BEST FOOTBALLING NATION FOR THIS PAST 5 YEARS EVERYTIME MODRIC LED THIS TEAM. 2 BRONZE AND 1 SILVER IN 6 WC APPEARANCES IS A SIGN OF A TOP COUNTRY COMPETING AT THIS LEVEL. BRAVO CROATIA !!!* 🔴⚪🔴⚪

[@RyuzakiTaiyou]

Best German players in the premier league of all time. (Day 480) I will not give up until the video is made or Alfie himself tells me to stop. Everyone else telling me that will be ignored. If you don't believe my number, just go back to the previous videos. I'm at the bottom most of the time, but I'm there.

[@FozzQuaker]

I believe your number...millions wouldn't... I'm kidding mate, between You and Balham and his AFC Wimbledon idea, you ain't half persistent... Here's hoping it's gets made one day

[@russellliban76]

If the guy who wants Indonesian first eleven got his wish, its not possible yours will get selected along with the afc wimbledon guy

[@HawkNocturnal]

Give this man his video!

[@maciejbala477]

but why? it's not even going to be an interesting video. Why German and Premier League in particular? makes no sense to do a video on that. I can understand the AFC Wimbledon guy but this just isn't a fun thing to watch

[@FozzQuaker]

@Maciej Bala Its a matter of opinion though, would I find it interesting, probably not, but you could add to the idea best German Players in the PL who were born in the GDR or FRG respectively... I like his XI if they declared for another nationality videos... But with a few tweaks to the idea it could be turned into something decent

[@bury_the_elite65294]

As an Aussie, I thank you, Alfie, for giving our lads an honorable mention. The Aussie women's team, The Matildas, are certainly worthy of a mention. Especially with a player like the mercurial Samantha Kerr, who is one of the best (some would argue THE best) woman in the world game right now. The men's team, the Socceroos, have declined somewhat, but they performed better than expected in the most recent FIFA WC. All this from a country where football ranks behind rugby union, rugby league, and Australian rules, in terms of popularity. Thanks again for another excellent video, Alfie. Keep up the good work! :)

[@nicholasbradshaw]

That 2006 performance we had was something special. Prior to our qualification where we knocked out Uruguay, hardly anybody played football. A couple of us had Liverpool shirts to barrack for Kewell, but after the tournament and a sensational 3-1 game against Japan, you can bet I was an Evertonian. I actually have it on good authority that my German extended family were in Germany at the time (figures), and they confirmed that practically everyone (at least everyone where they were) was cheering for the Australians whenever they weren't playing. Eventual winners Italy also needed to cheat in injury time to beat us -- some of us are still pretty sour about that, but we likely wouldn't have gotten much further anyway.

[@ibrahimchowdhury9779]

Reading this after the way the Matilda's fought in this years WWC and I can attest, they fight with spirit. Samantha Kerr is great.

[@tictac-bl4so]

Soccer is more popular than union easy

[@killbot86]

Don’t forget sports like cricket and basketball are also very popular in Australia so we have well half a dozen professional sports league that outrank soccer in terms of popularity…,,

[@laganonista59]

Croatia number 1!!

[@musictrans]

A comfortable climate make a big role in your body. Croatia's temperature and air are fresh. During hot days people in Croatia are on the beaches, not stressed with the work.

[@ShadowTheDark11]

Greetings from the Faroe Islands. Yes, we are football obsessed 😄

[@soundscape26]

300 days of rain a year? Yikes.

[@Goggarin1991]

That's probably a bit exaggerated, because it might just rain in one place, and not in others.

[@darthplagueis8886]

The portuguese always had quality, we exploded again cause we brought back the B teams we used to had in the 2000s wich allows the best young players of Porto, Sporting, Benfica and Braga to compete in the Championship equivalent of England and grow quickly.

[@josesilva4171]

You got it spot on! The Portuguese, when taking into account the population pool, are the number one football powerhouse.

[@josesilva4171]

There may be some cultural aspects to it. Even when the odds are 1000:1 against you a Portuguese is confident in total victory😀

[@josesilva4171]

There may be some cultural aspects to it. Even when the odds are 1000:1 against you a Portuguese is confident in total victory😀

[@darthplagueis8886]

@@josesilva4171 o regresso das equipas B fizeram toda a diferença porque o jogador tuga sempre teve qualidade, as equipas B ajudaram Portugal a surgir nos anos 2000, foram por algum motivo ridiculo abolidas e regressaram a coisa de 10 anos. Basta olhar para a seleção e ver quantos daqueles jogadores não passaram por uma equipa B.

[@fmega790]

@@josesilva4171 Thats why they lost 1:0 to morroco and have only won 2 trophies

[@joaodiniz7207]

@@darthplagueis8886 e mesmo os sub-23 que conseguiram dar carreiras a muitos jogadores que se calhar andavam perdidos nas distritais senao fosse esse escalao, tipo o miguel crespo que esta agora no fenerbahce do jesus. por acaso foram medidas muito importantes. e tb temos de ser honestos, o queiroz foi fundamental nisto, foi quem criou a primeira estrutura. e depois o mourinho que basicamente foi estudado pelos treinadores todos.

[@francolive5718]

Croatia are a not so dark horse for the Euros imo

[@danmustapic]

300 or was it 500 Spartans that defeated the massive Persian army.....maybe in sports it's more than just numbers, there is a song called Geni Kameni...which in Croatian says Croats their genes are made of stone ( rock solid , determined strong, proud and are fighters).

[@erikheymann9390]

The Dutch have played Argentina and Brazil a combined 11 times in the World Cup. 7 of those games finished in regulation, with the Dutch winning 5, drawing once and losing once, outscoring them 15-5. The loss was the thrilling 3-2 quarterfinal with Brazil in 1994. IOW, in 10 of 11 matches, at the end of regulation it was either tied or the Dutch had won. Once a game goes to extra time, however, the Dutch have a miserable 0-4 record, with 3 of those losses in PKs (clearly they need to work on those). Still quite an impressive record against 2 giants. I used to think the World Cup organizers went out of their way to schedule a matchup between the Netherlands and either Brazil or Argentina but I guess it's more likely that they try to ensure that Brazil and Argentina are on opposite sides of the playoff draw, such that any other team advancing is likely to meet one of these two. I imagine these teams looking at their schedules, seeing an upcoming match with the Netherlands and thinking "Oh, f***ing hell. Not those guys again."

[@antonio19xy]

Croatia should be higher than Portugal

[@killabuddha88]

It's something about the Portuguese language and culture that leads to the development of flair players, both Brazil and Portugal seem to develop flair players at the highest rate

[@Goggarin1991]

I was very surpriced that you included my home country, or archipelago if you will, the faroe island. While i do agree that we are very good comparatively to our population, i thought we would probably just be a honorable mention. We do have other notable results against bigger nations, which include draws against Scotland, Hungary, Slovenia, Sweden and Bosnia, among others, wins against Latvia and Lithuania, and allmost drawing against denmark (Denmark scored in 85'min, and we allmost equalized) and Germany (lost 2-1, but we hit the woodword towards the end of the game. We also had players makin apperances in the Premier League and Bundesliga, for Manchester City and Arminia Bielefeld, keeping a clean sheet and scoring a goal.

[@joekavanagh7171]

I still remember your first game, a 1-0 win over Austria, and your goalkeeper who wore a bobble hat.

[@Goggarin1991]

Yes, that bubble hat goalkeepeepers name is Jens Martin Knudsen. He was quite well known just because of the hat.

[@Speeder76]

As a fan of this channel - one of the best, in my opinion, for the variety of the subjects - and as a Portuguese - I enjoyed this video. Is well made and you even reminded in pictures our first participation in a football tournament, the 1928 Summer Olympics, where we lost on the quarter-finals against... Egypt. But you forgot one thing: the reason why we came from averageness to the top spots. We won two FIFA Under-20 World Cups, in 1989 and 1991, this one on our home soil, and beat Brazil in the final. On those teams came players like Luis Figo, Paulo Sousa, Fernando Couto, Rui Costa and Joao Pinto, just to mention the most known, and we called them the "Golden Generation". And they were all coached by Carlos Queiroz, the - now - coach of Qatar. Those achivements were the starting point to our investment on the youth, specially by the clubs, and as you know, the Big Three - Porto, Benfica and Sporting Lisbon - have some of the best facilities in the world, and now, we're wining the UEFA Youth League. And that work is now being applied to the women's team, as we are going twice to the Euro and this year, to the World Cup. They are now 22nd in FIFA rankings, their best ever. And the boost happened after the Federation asked to the Big Three to create women's teams some six years ago - only Sporting and Benfica said yes, besides Braga - and I think they will go up quickly. The secret is work. Lots of work since the youth teams - under-12 in some cases - and lots and lots of academies. Tens of thousands of fields with sintetic grass and tens of thousands of coaches with several grades in FIFA... so, what the world is seeing now is the consequences of years and years of work that won't come in the news.

[@Powerhouse08]

My top three: 3. Portugal 2. Croatia 1. Uruguay

[@sidward4588]

I'd put Croatia 1 Portugal 2 and Uraguay 3. Lots of Uraguayns live abroad and many Argentinians and Brazilians hold dual citizenship

[@danielm6319]

​@@sidward4588 Croatia don't gave Bencica, Portugal and Sporting as Portugal. So Portugal come first and they're early.

[@Mhc-zp9kc]

​​@@sidward4588 Uruguay doesn't get players from Argentina and Brazil for its national football team. They are definitely above Portugal, which is much more populated but got fairly similar results in recent times (1 SF and 1 QF at world cups). Uruguay vs Croatia is much more debatable as Uruguay world cup wins are very old, and Croacia has been clearly better since its independence.

[@MarkoOzegovic]

Talking about academies in Croatia, you've missed mentioning one that's in the Uefa Youth League semis now, having kicked out among others, Manchester City, Borussia Dortmund and Shakhtar Donetsk, in style. Hint: it's not the one you highlighted. It's regularly beating that one on U19 level and lower. ;)

[@declanfrew6958]

It's number 1 club in Croatia, the mighty Hajduk Split 🇭🇷

[@fadhilideche2831]

Something I've kinda been wondering is whether a better measure of a country's status as over- (or under-) achievers would be their GNI. I understand that your population size determines the talent pool you have access to, but your GNI is a decent measure of the wealth a nation has access to, and thus the amount of resources a country should have at its disposal to devote to nurturing talent.

[@JustKrin]

I mean Pele, Maradona, Ronaldinho and many, many more started playing in the streets. Football is one of those sports where you can have a genius come from the finest academy, wearing the most refined shoes and kicking a perfectly balanced ball or a kid kicking a sock barefoot on a dirt street.

[@Lefaid]

The thing is that GNI doesn't make the success of Uruguay, Portugal, or Croatia that much less impressive. Those are not by many measures the richest countries on Earth or even in their Federation.

[@fadhilideche2831]

@@Lefaid Some of the countries mentioned in the list would still keep their place but what you've said is kinda my point. It would make more sense to measure the success of these countries in comparison to similarly sized economies rather than by comparing their populations to similarly sized Third World countries. Also, while Alfie did already mention this, the fact that three of the listed countries were former colonial powers shouldn't be understated.

[@fadhilideche2831]

@@JustKrin While that may be true, it should also be noted that they lived in reasonably wealthy countries that had the infrastructure in place to nurture that raw talent.

[@owenfitzgerald5928]

I liked the what the country are known for bits always ending in disturbing imperiqlism or colonalism and usually still being important relevant info and i also liked the fact that only germany splits the first 3

[@TheMrTobiasRieper]

It really isn’t relevant anymore and was quite annoying. If I wanted to know about European colonialism, I would watch a history video, not a video about football that has nothing to do with European colonialism.

[@danielsierra6429]

​@@TheMrTobiasRieper I think you are in the wrong channel mate.

[@williamcross210]

@@TheMrTobiasRieper How is it not relevant when several players with roots in colonial nations are still playing for The Netherlands. France, Belgium, etc. You need a history video or to listen to Alfie

[@DeadlyV1RU5]

I'm glad it was mentioned so often considering most of the hate towards us (England) seems to be for our colonial past. Pretty much all the big countries did it, don't be mad at us just cos we were the best at it lol.

[@soundscape26]

@@williamcross210 You could arguably make this same video without a 5 second dig at each country's colonial past. And this comes from someone who shares the same opinions, but this time it felt forced.

[@benjaminvanderlund9522]

1. Croatia, 2. Belgium, 3. Portugal, 4. Denmark, 5. Iceland, 6. Sweden, 7. Uruguay, 8. Slovenia

[@russellpritchard4222]

Thanks, love ❤️ the channel from Australia 🇦🇺 with props. Socceroos made 2006, 2010, 2014,2018 and 2022 Fifa ⚽️ world cups. And 1974. And had playoff losses to Iran 🇮🇷 in qualifications for 1998 world cup, and a Maradona Argentina 🇦🇷 in I think 1994. Lost on penalty kicks to Uruguay 🇺🇾 in 2002 Fifa ⚽️ cup qualifying.

[@fishyfish6510]

My state in India is the 22nd ranked by population in our country and has almost the same population as Uruguay. That shows amazing and insane Uruguay has been throughout football history!

[@12Shadow01]

In India cricket is main sport... No body cares about football.. As so in china no one cares

[@crystalracing4794]

"Shouldn't be" is a weird title. It's not a surprise that having a colonial empire and a large immigrant population (except Croatia, who rely upon their diaspora) can be beneficial for success.

[@fairphoneuser9009]

As an Austrian I appreciate the inclusion of the Faroe islands in this list! ❤️😁

[@duxandrespasha]

Belgium and, Netherlands: locals + immigrants Uruguay: culture The rest: safe and rich Croatia: not rich for European standards but it is for world standards and excels also at volleyball, handball, basketball and wateropolo -- because it has a very strong sports culture.

[@stormtrooper-313tk]

I said the same thing about the U.S on the last video. But none of this is surprising to me. Population does not matter. Passion breeds good players. The aim for any sport to succeed in a country is for that countries best athletes to play your sport growing up. Have that plus good resources and you'll find success

[@PrimeZonSteam]

Much love from the Faroe islands Alfie !

[@Yarrayyyy73]

I was very surprised Senegal weren't here, a population less than Burkina Faso and Mali and over 10 times less than Nigeria, but won the most recent AFCON and have the most players in the top 5 leagues of any African country, including huge names like Mane and Koulibaly. Being a poverty stricken country in Africa with not that large a population they are massively overachieving

[@unlockedaccount]

i dont really think they’re poverty stricken tbh

[@E-Man08]

Alfie, my brother in football, I love how you mentioned the fact that colonial history has helped quite a few teams. I had never heard of the danish West Indies and that’s a testament of the Danish PR team. However it does break my heart that you have yet to talk about burnley’s season. Please keep informing the people in football history! Best, Me

[@willflint5014]

Hey Alfie, could you do a video on Glentoran and or their 1914 Vienna Cup? Their stadium alone has seen plenty of history, especially off the field as it’s right next to the shipyards and was even bombed during the Belfast Blitz. The Historical Belfast podcast did a fine piece on it but I feel Glentoran deserve the HITC Seven’s treatment. Edit: George Best was turned down by Glentoran as they thought he was too small.

[@MonTube2006]

Je seconde

[@rorymcallister472]

Northern Ireland didn't even get an honorable mention in a video that felt tailor made for us, so I wouldn't hold your breath.

[@MonTube2006]

"I wouldn't hold your breath" is the most disgusting thing I've seen in a looooong time

[@rorymcallister472]

@@MonTube2006 You should get out more

[@MonTube2006]

@@rorymcallister472 Would you please hold my breath ?

[@Heato-gz4tb]

Alfie, could you one day do a video about Preston North End, they are one of the most historic clubs in the world and I think some recognition towards them would be well deserved

[@deuce740]

Sorry i cant take this seriously with any debate of Croatia not being in top spot by a mile... What is this nonsense?

[@glennaldosf]

Cameroon is an interesting one... not really good at other sports or known for much else, but their football team puts the country on the map in a way

[@draagann99]

I don't understand why everyone still thinks Croatia is not good at football. They have shown so many times that they are one of the strongest countries in football. It may be a small country, but I know that Croatia is good at football. In Croatia kids grow up playing football... And the guys in the Croatia team show the others how they play that real football 🇭🇷🙌❤️

[@mchouseboat3405]

Who tf is still Saying that🤨

[@someonefromaustria1481]

The defeat against Faroe Islands also lives on in Austria to this day 😂

[@AlexEscMorgan]

WC 1998 croatia got bronze medal

[@ruirodrigues5433]

We also could mention that Portugal is excellent in other types of football, namely, futsal and beach soccer, in which both have already become world and european champions!

[@danivuk2036]

Portugal? Over Croatia? The country that takes players from former colonies? That got swept by Serbia in the WC Q? Over Croatia?

[@soundscape26]

Well, Croatia got the thumbnail. Consolation prize. 😄

[@pauloh5167]

Croatia never won nothing mate... And in 8 games between Portugal and Croatia, Portugal won 7 and 1 draw😂😂 This is not even a comparison. And we cannot forget how weak croatian league is... You should be happy that he puts you in second, Netherlands deserves that spot or even uruguay. Dont embarass yourself

[@danivuk2036]

@@pauloh5167 what do you mean "he put you in second"? I am not Croatian. If Croatia gave out passports to Brazilians and Africans like Portugal does, Croatia would win World Cups easy. Uruguay is the only nation I will concede to based on the premise of this list. Colonial imperialists like Portugal, Netherlands, and others take advantage of their positions of power to this day. Croatia dominates every other sport as well. Cheers ,"mate". BTW, Diego Maradona"s grandfather was Croatian 😉Just a FYI.

[@pauloh5167]

@@danivuk2036 "If croatia give passaports to brazilians and africans, croatia would win the world cup easy"😂😂 . You funny... Dream boy arent you ? XD It seems like you forget that alot of brazilians have portuguese roots kid... Just to name a few... Zico, Socrates,Kaka, R9. And exists more that i dont remember. Figo, Mourinho, C.Ronaldo etc... all Pure portuguese. "Croatia dominates every other sport"😂😂... you realy have some jokes. Ronaldo alone is bigger than all croatia... go sleep on that "mate" Cheers.

[@soundscape26]

@@danivuk2036 Portugal never benefited much from Brazilians tbh. You have the recent cases of Deco and Pepe but those had nothing to do with colonization. In fact Brazil got its independence way before football was even invented.

[@tyranus11]

Croatian here that actually works in sport! We don't spend a lot of money on sport in general, but on local level we spend a shitload of money on football. In my region of Croatia every local government ( village of couple of thousand people) sometime spends half of its annual budget, or more on local football club. Most of that money goes to senior teams and their salaries, playing in the lowest ranks of Croatian football. So money is spent on football, just not on kids and development.

[@amacrad]

As Pelé once said, if England is the mother of football, Uruguay is the father.

[@mrpnm8442]

Have you thought about why Croatia is in seventh place with such a small population. They certainly deserved more than the other nations below.

[@lou8120]

Since you mentioned Belgium climbed from 71st to 1st you should do the biggest climbs in the FIFA World rankings

[@deandoesstuff3371]

Belgium were only 71st for like a month or something... Belgium were always ranked among the top 25 countries from the 70's to the early 2000's, had a downwards spiral from 2004 onwards and recovered in 2011.

[@massafelipe8063]

Croatia has the record in that category. By winning the 3rd place back in 1998.

[@gorankopcic7827]

Here is the list of the best Croatian sportsman in the history, just those which I can remember now: Janica Kostelić, Ivica Kostelić, Dražen Petrović, Mate Parlov, Sandra Perković, Krešo Ćosić, Toni Kukoč, Matija Ljubek, Goran Ivanišević, Ivano Balić, Luka Modrić, Blanka Vlašić, brothers Sinković, Davor Šuker, Dragutin Šurbek, Željko Mavrović, Ivan Ljubičić, Iva Majoli, Dino Rađa, Robert Prosinečki, Zvonimir Boban Robert Jarni, Zlatko Saračević, Alen Bokšić, Domagoj Duvnjak, Mirko 'Cro Cop' Filipović, Franjo Arapović, Stojko Vranković, Blaženko Lacković, Petar Metličić, Aljoša Asanović, Ivica Olić, Darijo Srna, to name just a few the best in the history, and we have also a strongest man in history, Marijan Matijević! Croatia is the greatest sports nation in the world, considering the number of population in the country. There is only 4 million of people in Croatia, and we have such a great list of worlds greatest sportsmans!