7 Countries That Should Be MUCH Better At Football

From Mexico to Nigeria, HITC Sevens takes a look at a number of nations that should be better at football based upon their size, passion for football, and other relevant factors.
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[@mexicansavage1782]

As a Mexican I completely agree , Mexico has so much talent . Our youth team always do good in the youth tournament but our players don’t seem to be able to make the next steps in their career. One big problem for me is the overpricing Mexican clubs put on young players which is why they’re not many Mexican players in Europe,

[@dark8243]

The league system is also bad for the young players. There are only 17 league games and most managers will only have around 8 games to prove themselves or they will be sacked so they prefer to play foreigners instead of gambling on youth.

[@TheEyeball37]

I'm American, and I feel bad for you guys. It's an injustice.

[@playedout148]

I'm hoping that the north americans raise the level. As usa and Canada improve, that they pull mexico up as well.

[@worldwidefootball2495]

new video out on WorldWideFootball about the Negreira case. Go check it out. Link in bio

[@themexicansensation2698]

@@playedout148 Mexico has always been better than Canada and the US but their inability to improve is what had led us to lose quality. Hopefully now that they’re improving we can maintain our quality and also improve

[@roberttorres8477]

Mexico not being better is honestly laughable

[@DresdenShuffle]

North America in general being so poor is laughable

[@bababababababa6124]

@@DresdenShuffle true, NA is awful at football, but they’re improving though, Canada US and Costa Rica are rapidly getting better and may all even surpass Mexico in the coming years if Mexico doesn’t get their act together

[@skyrothman8651]

@@bababababababa6124 Probably not Costa Rica, but the US and Canada for sure. There's an argument to be made that the US is already better

[@nabri-nfg3262]

Im not surprised that mexican football has fallen since they stop participating in south America competitions

[@roberttorres8477]

Mexico has talent it’s just depressing how they have not been able to develop it. I mean they are the biggest Spanish Latin country with a love soccer. They have everything to become a super power in fútbol the countries lack of invest in talent has held them back

[@alexchimi7093]

Alfie, I encourage you to look into making a "What On Earth Is Going On In... Liga MX" video. Ever since 2010 we've had a hell of a circus that includes getting rid of promotion/relegation, stopping participation in Libertadores/Sudamericana, but also Cruz Azul's former owner being wanted by Interpol, teams buying their way back into the top flight by acquiring the team that just got promoted, and some teams straight up disappearing like Monarcas and La Piedad, mostly because of corporate greed. I know corruption is a spectre that haunts all of Latin America but Liga MX is on a league of its own.

[@kozukizaki8675]

Yes! As a Morelia fan, my injustice must be aired 😂

[@alexchimi7093]

@Dorkwing Buck that sounds more like a problem with FMF than with Mexican Americans themselves

[@Joe_EP3]

Not a fan of Liga MX, but I’d love to see a video on this. Alfie’s videos are superb.

[@Luigiman_95]

​@Dorkwing Buck I hate that Liga MX is basically ran by greedy Yankee money. It's a crazy thing that multi cartels has declared that if Liga MX create a super League with the MLS, it would be a war... AND A LOT OF MEXICANS WOULD JOIN THE FIGHT.

[@elkaliban]

Agreed man. I member watching those teams back then, and all of a sudden, boom they’re gone, just like Jaguares de Chiapas

[@huseroland]

An honourable mention could be Hungary. We were always a football-loving nation, and until 86' we were regular World Cup competitors with 2 silver medals. And 3 gold with also 2 silvers at the Olympics. But since 86' our biggest success was competing in the 2016 UEFA Europe Cup.

[@ilidioalves7]

But I think previously you were over-achievers. A nation of some 8 million having the team you had in the fifties is simply crazy. Nowadays I'd say you are achieving more in line with what your country is, in terms of economy, population, etc. Yes, maybe you could be doing better and qualify more often to the big tournaments, but I wouldn't say you are underachieving. Only whence it's measured against your glorious past.

[@GooseGumlizzard]

@@ilidioalves7 yeah but compared to their neighbors Hungary have been really especially bad in the past 50 years, producing no top players and hardly every qualifying for Euros or WC's, meanwhile teams like Croatia, Czech, Slovakia, Serbia, even Slovenia have done better

[@stephentyas4698]

hold on,I think your making a comeback.

[@huseroland]

@@stephentyas4698 Hope so 😀 Szoboszlai's transfer and his good performance really can open up some doors to the top level for our young talents.

[@kornelmezei2872]

@@ilidioalves7 We are overachievers in the olimpics aswell...statistically we get the most medals compared to population.

[@franks5312]

And then there is Croatia with 3.9 million people. -Got independence in the 1990s -2 bronze medals at world cups -1 silver -nations league semi final this year

[@soundscape26]

Croatia and Uruguay are quite the opposite of this list.

[@tannerwilson4843]

@@soundscape26 Croatia and Uruguay have become model nations to follow for many smaller tier nations around the world. They do everything right regarding ⚽️ in their countries.

[@ElAlejo99]

@@tannerwilson4843 As well as Morocco after their unexpected amazing performance in this recent world cup!

[@unlockedaccount]

croatia achieves a lot in basketball as well

[@villek3722]

@@ElAlejo99 Difference is that Morocco has 10 times bigger population and far less success

[@ADAJ3KINGANGEL]

Nigeria’s squads are usually all chest no legs. It’s like everyone decided they wanted to be a striker while disregarding the midfield and especially the defense/goalkeeping.

[@baquithemonkey5330]

I would say Colombia deserves an honorable mention. Colombia has the second largest population in south America, it's a crazy football nation, and a well established domestic top flight. Yet the national team only has one copa America to their name and has only qualified for the world cup in 6 occasions. Having missed out on the last one with a team than on paper was better than Ecuador, which qualified, and Peru, that unfortunately missed out in the international playoffs. Heck even domestic teams seem to have gotten worst over the past decade. The Colombian teams have performed terribly at the both copa libertadores and sudamericana. I don't think It's even an argument to say the Ecuadorian league and teams have surpassed Colombia.

[@bigboymatthew7471]

this is true because independiente del valle won two sudamericana tournaments in the last four years

[@Azstromb]

Colombia had its best chance in 2014.

[@Roberto-fg9oj]

Colombia is not a south american country

[@mannyortiz3656]

Mexico has actually reached the Copa America final twice, in 93 and 2001, losing both finals to Argentina and Colombia respectively.

[@joseluna3715]

No he is 100% right, the fact that Mexico is so soccer obsessed has a large population has invested so much into our youth and our leagues and has never even been to a world cup semi final as a Mexican I find it sad and pathetic and from the looks of it it’s looking like the US has a better chance of winning a World Cup now before Mexico does

[@supaa4512]

Our only somewhat notable achievements in our history are winning the Confederations Cup in 1999 and the gold olympic medal in 2012 (beating Brazil in both finals). It’s embarrassing considering Mexico’s huge potential

[@seandelap8587]

Egypt I would say considering how dominant they have been in the African Cup of Nations they have often flattered to achieve during the World Cup or indeed often haven't even qualified at all while less successful African countries have indeed often performed better on the international stage

[@josephcarland]

And probally most of the middle east as well.

[@yehiatamer3633]

Egypts problem is corruption there is group of ex players they control every every single thing in Egyptian football they turn everything into scam with nothing but money in mind

[@ahn2908]

yes as an egyptian i reckon we wouldve done pretty well in the world cup had the senegalese little pricks not shone those stupid lasers in our players faces

[@moderatemapper9440]

@@josephcarland No, not most of the middle east, they're either poor and wartorn or they're rich and only recently started developing football, other then a few like Egypt

[@ahmedlo1]

Agree with you as a Egyptian, it's a shame we have a shitty football federation

[@MrMeh23]

as an Indonesian, my opinion of the state of our international hopes has always been: If I see my country in the World Cup before my grandchildren have children, it would be an absolute miracle. I've been saying this since I was 17 in highschool

[@IErfanCN]

Indonesia masuk piala dunia = keajaiban yang luar biasa wkwkw 😄

[@michaelgiovanni9533]

At this point seeing Cambodia qualify for the world cup someday is a lot more realistic than Indonesia. They have a better vision towards improving their league and national team. While we're here at Indonesia still cant even manage our premier league (liga 1) or decide the future of the lower leagues. While at the same time our federation seems to hate the idea of having foreign born Players on the team.

[@animevsirl]

At least Indonesia got more chance of qualifying for world cup than Singapore

[@Ricky_Baldy]

The World Cup is expanding to 48 teams at the finals. Who knows. You may see it.

[@nirvaya]

I guess 48 teams in future world cups should give Indonesia a bigger chance than teams like China and India.

[@ivaneurope]

Ethiopia, as well as East Africa in general lean more towards producing top level track and field athletes and some of the top male athletes in the 5000 and 10000 meters are from either Ethiopia or Kenya. So it's understandable why football has taken a backseat. Same could be said about other countries where they worship different sports - Canada with ice hockey, India with cricket, Norway with skiing (primairly the nordic disciplines + biathlon) and Venezuela (the only South American country to have never qualified for the World Cup) with baseball

[@federicofuentes6146]

A couple of factual errors: Mexico have been finalists at Copa America two times, with three additional third places out of 10 total participations. And when Mexico beat Saudi both were very much alive, and Mexico fell short by one goal by virtue of yellow cards vs. Poland. Still, everything else you said is spot on.

[@eduardo8652]

Yep, sadly, we’re still pretty shit

[@Eayala17]

Lol like he said, mexico is the biggest under achiever in all of football.

[@danmathew3771]

andddd they lost to USA by 3 goals

[@bigboymatthew7471]

maybe they should'nt have drawn against poland thats all

[@alejandrolagos9603]

and lost 7 a 0 to chile, you really sucks 😂

[@mikyokalabacos366]

the hoever and ndidi slides never get old

[@YetAnotherGeorgeth]

Let’s not forget Eddie Howe (anyhow)

[@skyrothman8651]

@@YetAnotherGeorgeth And without further Adu

[@Hilversumborn]

And Watsmore (What's more)

[@notthatcreativewithnames]

Still waiting for (Nicky) But(t), though.

[@wrestler-kickboxer2524]

@@notthatcreativewithnames Or a picture of an actual butt 😂

[@wandilenxumalo735]

I'd argue that South Africa and Egypt are more underachievers than Ethopia. This is based on the quality of the leagues and their domination in Africa and yet their national teams are doing so badly in Africa (more South Africa than Egypt) and in world football. I'm not expecting them to win the world cup, but they must at least consistently qualify for the tournament.

[@clarenceonyekwere5428]

How much are the few spots for Africa to blame for teams not qualifying? 5 spots for 54 teams looks bad

[@chamaaimable-kapumpa7497]

Totally agree

[@soundscape26]

@@clarenceonyekwere5428 54 teams?

[@VictorMurp]

Egypt have consistently overperformed in AFCON though. This is biggest underperformed NTs, not unperforming world cup NT

[@damiananonim1925]

​@@soundscape26 He probably meant number of national teams in Africa

[@cesarpolese7303]

The popularity of the sport has been growing in the U.S. I can see the U.S team getting stronger in the coming years.

[@biggdig6669]

they sayin this since 2000

[@bluescale8626]

They are currently the best North American team. Mexico has given up that title in these recent years.

[@otakumouse3308]

As a Nigerian we don't do youth development well. We've won the U17 fifa world cup five times, and have produced a lot of good national U17 and 20 sides (Osimhen is part of that legacy)...but translating that to success at senior level seems to be the problem. Also, our good performances at youth level hides a lot of cracks. We also have a big corruption problem (though not as bad as Brazil's in my opinion...having read Alex Bellos' excellent book on Brazillian soccer, it's a wonder they won world cups with their bad federation) and leadership. And as you said, money. Money. A good youth setup of the likes of Germany and Belgium needs a lot of investment...and when our clubs can't earn enough money...that's where issues start (the money issue is why we end up having most of our players going abroad) Finally, Alaba and Saka and Musiala all grew up abroad, so technically speaking they won't feel that much allegiance to Nigeria. Maybe if they did grow up in Nigeria a bit (though we have had players like Abbey George, Reuben Agboola and even Shola Ameobi who did play for us, the latter after starring at U20 level for England even). Better stop here , because writing about Nigerian football is going to be a long tale.

[@eddyjolo]

I feel Nigeria and Mexico face the same demons

[@BhlackBishop]

There's also the domestic league problem that aren't broadcasted or supported as much by the media. Bad roads are also a deterrent for fans and local support

[@sammiesoul5]

We have won U17 with over aged players, hence we can't transition to the main scene

[@bigboymatthew7471]

same problem as mexico

[@takehirolol5962]

You are already immigrating quite early to Europe, not waiting for the u17 and u20 World Cups for exposition and get contracts. Even being a player on a 3rd Division League on a Top Football European country is much better living.

[@kozukizaki8675]

As a Mexican I was scrambling to think who could top Indonesia, then when he revealed top spot my head just sunk and I said "yup" lol Agh, that would be an amazing video Alfie to document how uniquely terrible the Mexican Federation is.

[@markmolino679]

I wasn't surprised. Seeing that Mexico is a mediocre and overrated team like the US.

[@etp4899]

I would absolutely love for Alfie to do a video on Mexican football.

[@FelixMCFrosty]

i still think he was being a bit too generous/bias towards the uk.

[@alejandrovillamil1734]

As a huge mexican fan there has been talks of "implementing " changes such as better exchange programs for thr youth, and thr national team to be in more competitive tournaments, but from what I can tell, there has been little to no progress. It's sad because we have HUGE talent, we always win almost all U-mexico games from each age group but the players either don't have the opportunity to show there skill at there club, or they quite. The biggest issue in my eyes is that the mexican federation is complacent to where they're at same thing with the players, they dont wanna move out since theyre already making good money at home, luckily now the US is more competitive and we have been performing worse, so now they HAVE to change, but they probably won't, the other issue is the price of mexican players, they're SUPER over priced, for EX. Uriel antuna was gonna cost 15 million for a Greek club, while Julian alvarez costed around 17 million, and ngl Julian is a way better player. I don't want to play like argentina nor Brazil or Spain, I want us to play our own unique way and with talent pero the possibility of that happening anytime soon is small

[@adam01101]

Mexico has to be number 1, I was surprised when I found out it was the most played sport in that country because they don’t produce really anyone

[@simoncaton1226]

Mexico has some good players like Chucky Lozano. But it’s telling that you can say that Canada and the USA have approached Mexico in terms of their ability to assemble a good team. It’s great to watch in Canada, where it sometimes felt like the men’s team didn’t even exist. You do a good job of outlining the issue. Can a lacking institution turn things around, especially in the face of a better US team and Canada coming out of nowhere? My thought is that they will try but sometimes you can’t turn a ship like that.

[@simoncaton1226]

But I feel you when you say that you just want a team that you can support and feel a real connection to. That’s all I wanted as a child for the Canadian men’s team

[@takacolon2792]

As a Brazilian, Mexico should come back to Libertadores, or we need to have an competition for all Americas. Mexico could evolve a lot of playing more often against Brazilian and Argentina teams. Also, Mexican teams are strong a lot to compete in high level.

[@yetekt6953]

America has won every CONCACAF youth tournament aside from the u17 one and they didn’t have some of their best for that one lmao

[@coffeyallday]

1 thing about Ethiopian soccer: Gedion Zelalem who was at one point a wonderkid in Arsenal's academy who ultimately chose to play for the US, was eligible to play for them, as well as Germany. He currently plays in the Dutch 2nd tier after a few injury plagued seasons in the MLS

[@jemimallah2591]

i had forgotten all about him lol

[@anggungunara]

I, and many other Indonesians, will likely say that our most memorable WC qualification is for Mexico 1986, when we won the group contained of India, Bangladesh, and most importantly: Thailand. We lost the Second Round to South Korea, who went on to kick hard in Mexico against Bulgaria, Italy, and god himself. The 2002 one had lots of goals but come on it's against Maldives and Cambodia, nothing like winning home and away against Thailand and playing knockout round against the Koreans.

[@nicandrorodriguez4640]

My poor Mexico always breaking our hearts,, and that last world cup was just unforgivable, and whats worse is that they also failed to qualify for the olympics

[@evryfckinnameistaken]

unforgivable lol damn they just barely missed the 2nd round it wasnt like another 78

[@anophelesnow3957]

Nicandro, it is a shame. I'm English and I hope I cheer you up when I say I have seen Mexico win something! I was at Wembley Stadium in 2012 and saw your Olympic team rightly beat Neymar and his Brazilians for the gold medal. I celebrated, put a sombrero on my head and drank tequila! Get a better team, mate. :)

[@mexicansavage1782]

@@anophelesnow3957 yeah that 2012 Olympic team did good but none of them became good players 😢unlike Brazil with Neymar, Danilo , Alex Sandro , pato

[@jesusalcazar8779]

I blame Tata 😒😒

[@isaacveynaflores1105]

Mexico missed the Olympics and the U-20 World Cup because they rested the qualifications for both teams on Mexico’s U-17 team in the concacaf championship where Mexico lost on penalties to Guatemala after having over 30 shots. The kids failed but the U-20 and U-23 teams shouldn’t be punished for it

[@seth.gravity]

Could you do a video on the state of South African football, I'm sure you'll find stories of corruption, mismanagement, and disappointment for a nation thats so in love with the game

[@nhlakaniphozulu1533]

Juicy stories, plus the in fighting between SAFA and PSL

[@afellownerd]

As a South African, I'd love a video like this

[@BoereViking]

Exactly. People forget we were ranked 16th in the world in 1996.

[@siphesihlejiyana9242]

I asked him for this on the previous video

[@chesbaret]

YEEESSS

[@MAJIN_MAGIC]

GREAT VIDEO, I agree with all of your picks!!

[@bolso4]

Mexican football is known in South America for being “soft”. Basically, Mexico historically does well vs. easy teams in the group stage, but falter whenever real glory is on the line. They’re basically the exact opposite of teams like Argentina or Uruguay, who usually struggle in the groups but have won their legendary status on world titles and Copa Americas

[@ishrendon6435]

Football sucks 😊

[@ishrendon6435]

Combat sports are tougher. Football in general is so called "soft" lol how can anyone be tough in a girly sport like football lol tell me !!!??? Lol kicking balls

[@ishrendon6435]

MMA is tougher and harder sport

[@krumbleme2]

Yet Mexico has a great record against your mighty Brazil

[@relasoft]

@@krumbleme2 ¿Great record? Brasil beat Mexico 24 times; Mexico beat Brasil 10 times... i think that Mexico has a poor record against Brasil.

[@CypherSteve]

South Africa, definitely South Africa. Has the largest league in the Southern African region, with a big footballing culture, we love the sport, talented youngstars who show potential, but corruption and poor management leading to disappointment after disappointment.

[@grobariza]

absolutely

[@jackmehoff5541]

You guys are talented to play in Africa not Europe, please tell me a South-African player who made it in the Top 5 leagues in Europe the after the WC2010?

[@katleholehlokoane9663]

​@@jackmehoff5541 Very funny comment this because the video explained, in the case of Nigeria, for example. In the modern era there are few African born superstars who succeed in Europe. And convenient of you to state " After the 2010 WC" because it seems you have knowledge of previous South African football players who've made it in European leagues before, if you don't know them I'm happy to name a few.

[@kris5885]

I thought South Africa was more into Rugby or Cricket?

[@S1LVAW0LF]

@@kris5885the africans are more into football. euros like rugby and cricket and south asians like cricket. Coloured people like all 3 i suppose....im just guessing lol.

[@Iguana-Power]

I’m surprised to not see South Africa (Bafana Bafana) mentioned in here. They are one of the largest countries in Africa by population, their rugby team has won 3 world cups, their cricket teams are usually contenders in their respective competitions, and while Bafana did win the AFCON in 1996, the team are massive underachievers otherwise.

[@adrianochoa23]

Cause SA is not a football country. Psl matches are always empty same as Bafana Bafana matches… nobody cares about football.

[@lontongstroong]

Maybe because all of the talented South African kids stop playing football and switch to rugby sevens after all?

[@rumblebird9888]

Probably has to do with ban they received for a while

[@DarkHorseF.C6686]

It’s much easier to have success in rugby and cricket as those sports aren’t nearly as popular globally as football. Plus those are the sports of the white South Africans so a lot more money gets funnelled to rugby and cricket than to football.

[@Sabundy]

Good grief.....so many wrong things in this comment. You obviously are not South African. 1) Cricket 🏏 is the 2nd most popular sport in the world after ⚽ football (the IPL literally being the 2nd richest sports league in the world). It is not by any stretch of the imagination "easy" to win games or the Cricket World cup. Or to be a major team in Cricket. 2) Rugby has not been the sport of the white South Africans as you out it for the last 15-20 years. You have obviously not seen the South African rugby team as they are half black and coloured players. Hardly a "white" team. And if you watched videos of South African high school rugby you would see that anywhere from 50-60% of the kIds playing are black. You clearly have no idea what you are talking about. If anything the high standards of South African rugby that have been maintained, how well managed it is (youth development and selection), and the fact that they win games and world cups has drawn more South Africans (from all ethnic backgrounds) to rugby. It's never been played by more South Africans and watched and supported by more of the population. If anything..... football ⚽ and Cricket 🏏 have probably lost support due to many years of poor performances from the national teams.

[@leonardoflorentin]

The nigerian situation is really sad. I remember in the '90 argentina often played them on the first stage of the WC and we all knew that it was a really tough opponent, i wish to see them again being that tough team i remember as a kid.

[@nathanjm000]

I remember when Turkey had a slim chance of taking three Champions League spots about five years ago but they have just one now

[@daghanor1620]

We don’t even have one anymore 😢. Our champion has to play 2-3 elimination rounds for qualification to UCL now.

[@voidvector6676]

Hey Alfie, this might be a long shot but I feel you would love the history of São Caetano. From a Copa Libertadores final in 2002, to nowadays playing in, if I remember correctly, the second division of their regional league in Brazil. It's a bizarre story of triumph, a rise like so few clubs have done not just in Brazil but in the world, tragedy, and a cataclysmic fall

[@krisztianbalogh7677]

They just newly relagated from the state league (not the country just the Sao Paulo state) second division.

[@Diamond-OSCandMarblestuff]

I know about Serginho in 2004 R.I.P

[@bigboymatthew7471]

a lot of brazil teams are like that the brazilian league is crazy even palmeiras has been relegated and they are the best club in brazil

[@Lancasterphodaum]

​@@bigboymatthew7471twice actually

[@DC-YTC]

It honestly baffles me that there's been more players from Trinidad than from India to play in the Premier League

[@Nakoz007]

Genetics

[@matthewhernandez8342]

@@Nakoz007 They’re kinda related to each other lol.

[@Ninja-gt3zi]

@@matthewhernandez8342 usually the black ones from Trinidad who will be playing professional though

[@williamcross210]

@@Ninja-gt3zi Except for Chris Bircham whose long range banger put T&T in the Worle Cup

[@matthewhernandez8342]

@@Ninja-gt3zi That is true but, they can still have Indian grandparents or great grandparents.

[@jltub]

Always on point, love the channel 👏

[@Ese96Agoaye]

1.) Don't forget Nigeria win Olympic gold in 1996, becoming the first African nation to do so. 2.) Mexico are the Ireland of the football World Cup. Please do a similar video on womens football.

[@YesOkayButWhy]

Point 2 doesn't make sense to me, please explain. It's like saying The Kinks are The Zombies of English Pop music from the 60s.

[@Ese96Agoaye]

@@YesOkayButWhy Mexico, like Ireland in rugby, have never gone past the quarter finals. I should've expanded in the first place...

[@YesOkayButWhy]

@@Ese96Agoaye Ah, thanks! Makes sense.

[@thatleroy98]

Mexican fan here, what I really hate about mexican football, is that we have a lot of potential in the sport, but we're sinking ourselves with decisions that the FMF has done for the last couple of years. Not only they want to sell players with prices way higher that they should be, but the whole mexican league has a big problem with it, and with that it reflects on the national team. Yes, Liga MX is a competitive league at some point, but there's many problems the league has. There has been no relegation since 2020, teams pay the recently promoted franchiases just so that they're not relegated, we get more foreign players than we send local players to other leagues, teams from lower divisions can't be promoted unless they pass a bunch of "requirements" just so that they aren't able to be promoted. Not only that, but there are owners that own two or more teams in the league, which is something FIFA condemns but it not badly seen in here. The national team is a joke aswell, not only Mexico has been stuck in the Round of 16, but I was actually happy when they got eliminated in Qatar. Not because I hate my country, but because it is a concequence of the bad management this national team has gone through. Our team plays in the US more often than in our country, they sell a bunch of merchandise in the States rather than here, and the younger players that win lots of games and make it to their world cups aren't given a chance in the national team. Overall, I see a lot of potential in my country, but the federation isn't focused on that, they want to sell a brand rather than making a good team.

[@craydussy]

As an American I really hope both of our countries are able to step it up and be better at the sport.

[@sdot5389]

As a Canadian I triple this hope. May the three of us challenge each other and provide good competition for the decades to come.

[@lucasVazquez77755]

@@craydussy US will become a top level team in the next few years and that will help Mexico & Canada to grow as well.

[@jude8728]

I would love to see a similar video to the Ireland golden generation one for Nigeria. Alongside Osimhen, they've got so much attacking talent coming through right now (Gift Orban, Moffi, Chukwueze, Sor, Awoniyi)

[@Ninja-gt3zi]

Nigeria have insane strikers but such a weak defense. They need to try develop some cbs and gks cause it seriously holds them back

[@opinionatortv6457]

We Nigerians have never lacked quality in attack. Even in midfield, we tend to produce strong and technical players. However, our defensive areas are seriously lacking. Add coaches that can't seem to properly organize the team, we always falter

[@Ninja-gt3zi]

@@opinionatortv6457 try get tosin adarabioyo to switch hes good. Caleb Okoli from Atalanta aint bad either. Fullbacks needed too. Okoye has some work to do in goal

[@krisztianbalogh7677]

@@Ninja-gt3zi They need anty Blue Lock XD

[@GreekHouseEffect]

honestly, this is such a good generation of Nigerian players, I was gutted they didn't qualify for Qatar

[@franciscodonizetidasilva9570]

England, no European titles, one fake World Cup. By far the most exciting league in the World. Absolute passion from their fans. Small relevance in the World of football .

[@rolloxra670]

I agree but wdym by one fake World Cup?

[@franciscodonizetidasilva9570]

@@rolloxra670 66

[@jesusvillasenor3322]

Excellent video and very accurate in the Mexico case.

[@bababababababa6124]

How Mexico is still ranked within the top 20 is baffling to me

[@edgzta]

Literally finished top 16 in seven consecutive World Cups.

[@bababababababa6124]

@@edgzta yeah fair enough, but going off their recent form you seriously cannot tell me that they should be ranked higher than Japan for example

[@yetekt6953]

@@bababababababa6124 recent form isn’t the only thing taken into account

[@Diamond-OSCandMarblestuff]

​@@edgzta and failed to top 8 in ALL of them

[@edgzta]

@@Diamond-OSCandMarblestuff if you would learn how to read...we're talking about top 20 not top 8.

[@jaroslawmajkusiak629]

I always found surprising that India is not better international football team. I used to play on Sundays with a lot of fellas that were born in India and they were very good - fast and technical.

[@dd-uf9nw]

In India we don't have any strong league system and no good scouting system as other countries have. you will find so many adults , kids playing football in the park and if you ask them which club they play for their answer will be we don't play for any club and we just play for the fun. There are many talents in India who have never played a single professional game in their life because their region doesn't have any local league. All their lives they play local Cups sponsored by some local authorities/businessman/politician without earning any money.

[@Bis55667]

@@dd-uf9nw Not to mention 99.9% of Indian parents absolutely refuse to let their kids pursue anything even related to sports

[@yesitssreemen4652]

​@@dd-uf9nw soo true and it's the reality

[@devaanshduggal824]

The ISL Football League is very popular in India and the Indian national football team is pretty strong and have beaten teams such as qatar, but due to a minor corruption scandal in 2014, FIFA has suspended the Indian team for a while

[@BigPurp9]

I do think culture is also a big thing, when I lived in London there were a few Indian lads in my year and a couple of them were some of the best at football in our year, but they had no interest in playing it outside of school while they did play for the local cricket team

[@diegogalvan1810]

Thank you for pointing out the flaws of Mexican football, I’d say Mexico has an unhealthy habit of underachieving at virtually everything given all the resources, talent, and size the country possesses, not just in sport. I’d love for you to make a full video on all of the deficiencies of Mexican football

[@ishrendon6435]

Sadly mexico is a drug cartel ran country with so so much corruption

[@ishrendon6435]

Sadly mexico is a drug cartel ran country with so so much corruption thats only one of the many reasons

[@bigboymatthew7471]

i can see them failing to win the next few gold cups as other countries like usa and canada have gotten much better

[@diegogalvan1810]

@@bigboymatthew7471 me too, it’s honestly really pathetic to see either their decline or lack of progress, imo it’s a decline and Canada and the US have certainly progressed. It’s nice to see more competition, and I’m hoping this helps improve CONCACAF as a whole, but I’m rather doubtful considering they all did rather mediocre at the WC (Canada imo was very unfortunate)

[@bigboymatthew7471]

@@diegogalvan1810 usa should've at least tied the netherlands. but canada didnt play well against belgium either

[@johnmichel4865]

Good vid again. South Africa and USA also both strong contenders for me (Clive).

[@willflint5014]

The problem with US Soccer, US sports in general really, is the “pay to play” model or just how expensive everything is. The parents are another issue at time in all sports here. I am sure parents are an issue everywhere but situations like the Reynas happen at youth levels everywhere and in every sport in the US it seems at times.

[@TheNormalJuan]

The "pay to play" model is surely an issue with football (the one you call soccer), but in most of the other sports in the country, talented kids are given the opportunity to focus on their sports career, while also ensuring a professional degree, with the scholarships and sponsorships they receive, and theres huge investment in facilities and scouting making it possible for kids that come from economically difficult situations to make it into the highest level. But that's the thing, US doesn't invest as much in football (soccer) because they simply don't have that much interest, with Basketball, Beisball and American Football all hugely more popular in the country. The interest has been growing slowly in the last couple of decades, and with a fairly good young generation that has made it to the world cup a few times, as well as several young american talents playing at some of the top european leagues regularly, it seems there could be even more interest in years to come, with children probably looking at Pulisic or McKenny the way they see Lebron or Tom Brady (ok, maybe not quite at that same level, but not too far either). There seems to be a positive short-term and mid-term future for the sport, but only serious interest, both from government (facilities and promoting) as well as private (academies, sponsors, schools) will guarantee stability on the long-term.

[@yetekt6953]

Pay to play doesn’t really exist in the US anymore. Every MLS team has an academy and USL is also great at producing youth players.

[@moderatemapper9440]

@@yetekt6953 Don't you have to pay good money to try out for those academies?

[@yetekt6953]

@@moderatemapper9440 no they’re free

[@willflint5014]

@@yetekt6953 beyond that at the local level it does.

[@sdeepj]

Before the war, hockey in Russia is more integrated with the wider hockey world. You have Russian superstars in the NHL, like Alexander Ovechkin, Evgeni Malkin, Andrei Vasilevskiy, and Karil Kaprisov. The KHL (Russia’s top league) has North Americans, Swedes, Czechs, Finns, etc. playing & coaching in the league. You don’t see that in Russian soccer.

[@lkrnpk]

issue is that ice hockey still is much less accessible sport than football, you need ice rinks, yes Russia is cold but most places not 12 months a year or even 6 months and number of ice rinks in Russia is not enough for such mass popularity as in Sweden or Finland

[@augustusfreeman4032]

I remember a Russian journalist saying that comparing the popularity of Ice Hockey to Football in Russia; is the equivalent of comparing the population of Mars to Earth.

[@lkrnpk]

@@augustusfreeman4032 I would say so, ice hockey is still more expensive and less accessible and less competitive in the world overall

[@sdeepj]

@@lkrnpk yes, ice hockey is expensive. However, in North America, our love for the sport is developed through playing street/hockey. Either playing on our feet or on in-line skates.

[@GooseGumlizzard]

its the same in the US. USA produces some of the best players in the NHL even though hockey is possibly even less popular than soccer nowadays, however the US development program is very good and hockey still has deeper cultural roots than soccer, especially in the northern states.

[@MrLordNose]

Such a fascinating and well-explained list

[@uhurusibuyi1788]

Alfie, I'd really like to hear your assessment of South African football and the state we find ourselves in, it would be interesting to hear and see what you find.

[@michaelkay5268]

Nigeria has to make this list. And the main reason we are not competitive is the corruption of the NFF.

[@bababababababa6124]

We did make the list, Nigeria is so bad, what happened to us 😢

[@globoiitsuna]

Ofc we made the list. We have great players but a horrible federation and bad coaches

[@michaelkay5268]

@@globoiitsuna very correct terrible coaching, and corrupt federation

[@George-jc3mt]

i have yet to see a good nigerian defence including the gk tbh

[@icantthinkofanamejustallow4199]

@@George-jc3mt exactly man, our defence is always atrocious.

[@user-fy8hm2px4t]

When I saw the title, the first country that came to my mind was Mexico, they should be as good as Brazil and Argentina, but they are not where close to them. And the second country unsurprisingly was India, as we have a population of over 1.4 billion people still we are no where close to the top countries of world football, for which popularity of cricket is partially to be blamed but it seems like the administration in itself is not serious, our team doesn't get good training, we don't have a good manager who focuses on improving and playing attractive football, our govt. is not serious at all as they didn't have any idea that a minister from previous govt. is still operating Indian football even after 8 years due to which we were even suspended by Fifa.

[@Rassalcon]

I feel like Mexico is the first country I'd think of for a list of the teams that are exactly as good as they should be, consistently about 15th best in the world. what makes you say they are under achievers?

[@user-fy8hm2px4t]

@@Rassalcon the fact that they have never really challenged to win the WC like Brazil, Argentina and Uruguay have. Football is the most popular sport there and Mexicans are passionate as hell about football, they also have well established leagues and there are no civil wars and all going on there. Yes, there are problems in Mexico, just like many other countries but still they are just not as good as they should be.

[@nendaya6240]

@@Rassalconbro we are not 20th best we are 15th to 10th every time but we never can burst out and became a top competive and we should be

[@Rassalcon]

@@nendaya6240 Right you are

[@isaacveynaflores1105]

@@Rassalcon Mainly because Mexico is a world power at the youth level and street level regularly contending or winning world cups in those categories. They should be better than top 15 in the world but they aren’t for multiple reasons.

[@Sfx8411]

I personally think the US National Team should be much better at it considering how wealthy they are they could literally buy any talent it is also a Mystery to me why they can't still hire a top-class coach, Zinedine Zidane is currently not coaching anyone why not ask him?

[@reddiamond8630]

Because he only wants to manage one national team: France

[@ChristianLopez-wl5gd]

While USA is emerging as a force, the pay to play system, although seems to be changing as of recent in some clubs, has hindered talent here that would probably thrive in a different setting to nurture talent from youth. That and how soccer (or football) here tried to run similarly like the NFL and NBA by drafting talent from universities, and not really having much of a youth system like we have today really slowed us down. But we do have some of the best athletes in terms of physicality and size and we’re tapping in

[@bigboymatthew7471]

the US is good at soccer they are better than mexico, but they should've played better against netherlands in the world cup

[@afa78djd]

They abandoned it early on, but they were really good. The failed attempt form the 70s to make it popular again failed, and I thought the MLS wouldn't last either but here we are. Given them 10-15 years and we'll see a team contending in World Cup semifinals, watch.

[@punisherlee]

Excellent analysis on Nigeria

[@depekthegreat359]

You are totally right,particularly on the Nigerian national team where they can create more impact like they have done during their best years and with the new President of Nigeria who is going to be appointed in near future,the national team will be capable of going to the next level,good friend Alfie!!!Shoutout to the rest of the respective nations which you have listed and keep up your good work but I am totally disappointed with your beloved Hull City that lost 3-1 at home to Burnley,good friend!!!🙏

[@clipflix4315]

What does the new president have to do with anything?

[@depekthegreat359]

@@clipflix4315 He has the power to appoint a fantastic sport's minister to make sure she or he would boost the Nigerian national team with full confidence and with the help of the Nigerian Football Federation for the squad's development and infrastructure,the team would come back stronger than ever,good friend!!!🏋‍♂️

[@jamez3002]

@@clipflix4315 corruption 😑

[@cydc08]

🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡

[@SanFranFan30]

I can't believe there was no Freddy Adu joke at the beginning of this video as of course he is an underachiever hailing from one of the biggest underachieving football nations.

[@PLC11]

Would love a video based on upcoming national teams that could be competitive. Example: Norway

[@lanxmoja4104]

Great video as always Alfie, Though I have to say i'm suprised that my country South Africa did not make it on this list or perhaps you should include it on the next What on Earth segment. We are a country with so much talent, better infrastructure than most african countries, A great footballing history , an organised and well funded league and some world class football academies but the dots just never seem to connect we are always behind with the growth of our national team I mean we cant even qualify for the AFCON

[@DresdenShuffle]

If the MLS structure had relegation and promotion and the youth academies didn’t cost so much to get into then America would have a much better team.

[@stackhat8624]

No. Relegation and promotion is not only idiotic and a joke that promotes corrupt, lopsided leagues it would be even worse in countries like the US (also Australia, Canada, New Zealand) where populations are located in large cities. Combined with stricter salary caps in those countries and teams from large cities like LA and NY could get relegated. No LA and NY teams would spell financial doom for the MLS. And the US isn't going to tolerate the same 1-3 teams dominating every year. Not when the NBA, NFL and MLB have a much more wide open leagues than Europe. Tell me, who is leading Ligue 1 and Bundesliga right now? Let me guess ... the same team as last year and the year before that and the year before that and the year before?

[@DresdenShuffle]

@@stackhat8624 If you actually watched the Bundesliga this year instead of being arrogant and assuming you’re right you’ll see your argument is invalid when Union Berlin had lead the league for nearly half of the games and are only a few points off the top. This is a team who a few years ago was in Bundesliga 2. They are also in the Europa League. None of this would’ve been possible if promotion/relegation didn’t exist. Your argument is invalid.

[@bababababababa6124]

@@DresdenShuffle I agree with you don’t get me wrong but he kinda had a point with the Bundesliga. Union is doing well now and there are finally other teams challenging Bayern, but Bayern still won the dam thing 10 times in a row… I doubt you’d see something like that in the MLS or any other American League. Not defending the MLS though, that league still is a joke compared to European leagues. Just saying that you cannot argue against the fact that Ligue 1 and the Bundesliga are essentially the Paris and Bayern show. The Prem, La Liga and Serie A are slightly better in that regard

[@murilomartins2055]

Lol That would change nothing, even if football was the number one sport in the us, you guys still would be nothing in football. The us play in concacaf against weak teams, while the europeans and south americans play against each other, facing much tougher opponents. You can't increase the level of your game, facing lower level teams

[@Eibarwoman]

@@murilomartins2055 Only solution is to leave CONCACAF for the US and Mexico if they are to improve.

[@dronesclubhighjinks]

When the size of Russia was mentioned, I was wondering if Canada was going to be next on the list. However, it was mentioned that Russian football's popularity faces stiff competition from ice hockey and Olympic sports. In Canada, ice hockey has a popularity that football has elsewhere. Canadian men's football has only started to become slightly more popular with the recent relative success of the national team, and with more immigration from football loving countries. Canadian women's football is strongly supported even by hockey-loving men and the women's team has been very successful, especially at the Olympics, winning gold in Tokyo 2020 (2021). Football is seen more of a kids' sport and women's sport in Canada but that may change if the men's national team continues to improve. Thanks for the video!

[@matthewpaulsen3732]

Not just hockey but basketball is more popular as well, having grown up in the toronto area. Canada has the most nba players outside of the usa and the raptors are easily on par if not bigger than the maple leafs. The only reason Canada hasn't seen international success is the players don't care to represent the country.

[@unlockedaccount]

@@matthewpaulsen3732 yeah i follow the nba and toronto and montreal are really producing nba talents , usually kids from carribean backgrounds

[@darkoanton5]

Women's soccer is not as competitive.

[@dronesclubhighjinks]

@@matthewpaulsen3732 thanks for letting everybody know! I was not aware of the popularity of basketball to the extent you describe.

[@dronesclubhighjinks]

@@darkoanton5 that’s very true. There’s a reason Canada funds women’s sports much more than men’s. They analyze every Olympic sport to see in which there is the least competition, and then pour money into developing Canadian women’s talent for that sport. This strategy has been very successful. Since Canada is co-hosting the World Cup in 2026, they would have had no choice but to put funding into men’s football as well.

[@beno1129]

Nigeria actually made it to the second round of the 1994 world cup, not the quarter finals. They haven't been able to reach the quarter finals yet. They did get very close in 1994, where they were one minute away from beating Italy before the great Roberto Baggio equalised to send the game to extra time and then score a penalty 2 minutes to the end.

[@bigboymatthew7471]

the final could've been brazil nigeria who knows

[@jimmyyue238]

​@@bigboymatthew7471the final was supposed to be Brazil v Germany

[@kalomboC]

Nigeria is the LARGEST country in Africa by population..

[@sebastianpim469]

Alfie sneaking Hull City into the honorable mentions as if we wouldn't notice...

[@safebans1369]

Hiya Alfie. You talking about the failures of Russian grassroots football made me think about which nations have the best grassroots football system? Could be a good idea for a sevens video

[@AmbitiousAlgerian]

Algeria, the number of talents playing for France or Algeria is already immense : Zidane, Benzema, Mahrez, Mbappé, Nasri, Fekir...etc

[@Nazim909]

Our mbappe could play for Cameroon

[@animachainzvideoz5921]

This is a great video, well done.

[@cristiandumitrescu1744]

In a smaller scale I would say Romania. 20M population(Higher then the Netherlands, 2x times Sweden and Portugal, 5x Croatia) , with football as its primary sport and still doesn't produce enough talent to even compare them to the countries previusly mentioned. ATM the most valued Romanian player is Razvan Marin from Empoli. Even Montenegro (which has 600k population) has a more valued and stronger player then Romania(Stefan Savic)

[@soundscape26]

Romania (and Bulgaria) had great teams in the 90's. It all went downhill at the turn of the century.

[@nicholas5905]

Rarely comment video ideas but would love to see a video on Celtic and how dramatically Ange Postecoglou has turned the club back around to unrivalled dominance in Scotland since the disastrous season where Celtic lost out on the last of ten league titles in a row. Think it would be an interesting video!

[@Alfie_1]

Yes. Ange. Yes. Ange please.

[@SanFranFan30]

shout out Cameron Carter Vickers.

[@soundscape26]

Unrivalled dominance after not winning the league just once in 10 years? The dominance was never lost, just briefly interrupted.

[@jabbadahut6784]

@@soundscape26hahaha so true

[@GreekHouseEffect]

damn, Celtic winning the Scottish league and a Champions League group stage exit. Truly a video-worthy season

[@carloscalo3667]

Wow great knowledge about mexico, all he said in this video is true!!!

[@cochise_715]

As a filipino, I agree with the dishonorable mention. There just isn't enough interest in the sport as that space is very much taken by basketball. That's not going to change anytime soon but hopefully with the Women's team being in the world cup, it can spark something in the younger generation.

[@xvgm24]

Good job beating us Kiwis in the world cup!

[@BoereViking]

South Africa...🇿🇦 It's our most popular sport but we are kak now. In 1996 we were ranked 16th in the world.... Rugby and Cricket our second and third most popular sports we are world beaters in!

[@seanrichardson3485]

Yeah. We rose up the ranks really quickly in the first few years after apartheid when the boycotts were lifted, only to stagnate for a decade and then fall off the map completely after hosting a world cup. It's really disappointing.

[@abdullaali1799]

No one else plays cricket and rugby other than former British colonies.

[@soundscape26]

@@abdullaali1799 Cricket yes, but rugby is played outside of former British colonies.

[@BoereViking]

​@@abdullaali1799 tell me you know nothing about cricket and rugby without using the words...

[@stackhat8624]

But theres historical factors to football problems in South Africa. While rugby and cricket arent as popular as football but due to apartheid those 2 sports, ie white sports, were much better funded and supported by the government than football. Sure, you can point to South Africa having much more success in football after apartheid was lifted but you could argue that was due to just having a good team at the time. But it is disappointing that in the 30 years since the end of apartheid that the structural problems of South African football haven't been fixed.

[@josuaerick9670]

As an Indonesian, it is unbelievably sad here because literally almost 90% of all young boys love or at least have played football at some point in their young lives but the PSSI corruption destroyed all of our hopes and dreams of becoming professional 😢

[@PawnsorKings]

Yes, when I coached football in Indonesia all my players told me that only rich Indonesians get to play professional and they get there by directly paying the team to play. While I was living in Jakarta the PSSI collapsed and had no games for nearly a year. Very sad.

[@josuaerick9670]

@@PawnsorKings yeah exactly, fuck corruption

[@davidsimms6609]

Fascinating stuff.

[@amonducius]

Top 7 Highest-scoring GOALKEEPERS.

[@makenvaega]

Very curious to hear why the Philippines was included in the (dis)honorable mentions list. I suppose you'd think 300 years of Spanish colonization would do something for us, but it's now a country where 95% of the population probably have never even heard of Lionel Messi or Cristiano Ronaldo. We showed some promise like...100 years ago, when we used to be competitive regionally. I mean... to this day, the very few football fans here celebrate the legend of Paulino Alcantara, who played in the 1920s 😆 not much has happened since then

[@stackhat8624]

Well, you can take solace in that fact that Philippines sucks at basketball too.

[@yosuasiregar341]

Because football only started to develop in the late 19th century, when you guys were already in American hands. No wonder that you guys prefer basketball than football

[@makenvaega]

@@yosuasiregar341 yeah good point so it really makes me wonder why we were in the short list

[@Zephyrling]

I made a similar comment here but had completely forgotten about Alcantara. I’d definitely like the HITC Sevens treatment on his story.

[@gabestapleton1003]

Australia. We’re systematically a fantastic sporting nation, competing at the top of the top in many other sporting code, but due to mismanagement and more importantly the price point to play football at youth leaves football as an afterthought down under.

[@totallynotblakem7026]

100%.

[@cranmeyer]

Australia would be on any list of overachievers. Lucky to be the 4th most popular sport in a country the size of Shanghai.

[@poonoo87]

It only appears that way from the inside since we tend to do so much better with Cricket, Rugby and the Olympics where we are in the world's top 10 usually, while in Men's football we have never been there. We overachieve so much at other sports that even slightly overachieving like we do in football looks like a disappointment.

[@MartijnterHaar]

I think it's more that Australia overachieves in a lot of other sports compared to its size than that it underachieves in football.

[@dan_tr4pd00r]

It should be said that the Philippines went from near rock bottom of the FIFA world rankings in the 2000s, without even a domestic league of its own, to one that can seriously compete with its neighbours in just 10 years. It's underachieving because there was very little interest for it but things are on the up.

[@JakeStevyson]

the media and PFF are very incompetent TBH.

[@stephentyas4698]

they are basketball crazy.

[@JinZanmato]

As a good news to any Nigerians fans out there. Norwegian clubs have started to invest in acadamies in Nigeria. The clubs invest in African talents. Keeping communication with them until turning 18, then signing them. Nurturing them in Norway in a safe environment where they can focus on football. Many of them sold to clubs in bigger leagues for a big profit after 2-3 years.

[@kris5885]

Sounds like they’re grooming them for Norwegian naturalization but hey😭

[@JinZanmato]

@@kris5885 5 born and bred Nigerian players in Eliteserien right now. Players don't get signed as a ploy to ditch their country of birth and join Norwegian national team.

[@icantthinkofanamejustallow4199]

@@JinZanmato good, don't want a situation where we might have an mbappe calibre player and all of a sudden Norway wants them for their national team, i still think it might be the case though.

[@JinZanmato]

@@icantthinkofanamejustallow4199 they are brought here because they strengthening the squad and sometimes get sold to one of the big leagues in Europe for a hefty price. Like Datro Fofana for example. Chelsea bought him from Molde for about 100 mill dollars. Only players with African heritage that ending up playing for Norway are those with a Norwegian father/mother. Joshua King has a Norwegian mother and a father from Gambia. Or they came to Norway as refugees when they were children. Like the Kitolano family with 2 Kitolano brothers playing for Norway U-21 and U-18.

[@icantthinkofanamejustallow4199]

@@JinZanmato thanks for the explanation.

[@thamithwala3011]

Nigeria keeps losing players to bigger nations like England and Germany. Imagine seeing Saka and Musiala playing for the Super Eagles.

[@antoinegodin1]

Good thing their parents escaped and were able to let them join the best youth camps

[@villek3722]

They didnt lose the players. They lost the parents

[@lappwv]

they all developed their football career in england you wouldnt even know if they would be as good if they always lived in nigeria

[@matiasbalaci]

Romania definitely is one of them because we absolutely *LOVE* Football ⚽ 🇷🇴 *FCSB* also won the world cup in 1986

[@amorphous7474]

It's Champions League not World Cup.

[@cyberskull95]

Steaua won the Champions League (not the World Cup). Not FCSB.

[@CaptnLoken]

Hey Alfie - can you look at the news that NZ Football might be getting its second A league franchise in our main city of Auckland? Would be interested in your take on why it failed in the past for us, and if you think it will succeed this time around.

[@lilbtyt7928]

i was waiting for mexico and then we got number 1. beautiful.

[@tristanjohnson822]

As someone who grew up in Ethiopia in a family who worked with the sports federation, I clicked on this to make sure Ethiopia was on the list. Everyone loves and plays the sport, but there is no infrastructure for it. You can be the greatest player in the world on road or dirt, but that rarely translates to playing on a proper pitch. The clubs and football federation all have youth programs, however getting into these programs is less about talent and more about who you know and how much money you have. Any money that clubs or the government try to invest tends to end up in the pockets of high up businessmen. However the Ethiopian Premier League is quite a fascinating league, but don’t watch if you can’t handle dreadful referees.

[@lontongstroong]

At least you folks are still very good at long distance running.

[@preferjacker5369]

You are spot on ... Nigeria is a big underachiever

[@viperswhip]

Russia and Canada have similar problems with this. The huge country means transport costs are extreme. Canada and Russia have a lot of smaller cities that wouldn't support a premier league-level team and thousands of km between them.

[@constablekennedy7705]

Here before HITC gets Taken Over by the Saudi SportsWashing …. 👀. ⚽️

[@MCKevin289]

I’m an ice hockey fan too and it’s really interesting how association football has influenced the Russian Ice Hockey program. The first soviet coach was originally a soccer coach and adapted some soccer strategies to the game. He also put more emphasis on passing and speed which is different from the more physical style in the North American style of play. To improve the players cardio he would hold practice on frozen pitches during the winter.

[@jaysonsernachannel1624]

Philippines here! For a time football had a promise despite being not the most popular sport. We were able to reach the ASIAN Cup through qualifiers for the first time in 2019 (almost for 2024 but unlucky in GD). I just hope that the men's side would improve with 50/50 ratio of overseas born and Homegrown talent, and a competitive league. Our women's side had great achievement too, so excited to see my country in the FIFA Womens World Cup in a few days. I hope they do well so it can encourage more Filipinos to love the sport we think is best suited for us.

[@JakeStevyson]

don't forget that Media have been overshadow to Basketball and PFF is very incompetent..

[@rks5457]

It was a loong long time ago but there was Alcantara who played for Barcelona. Most goals ever for Barcelona til Messi broke the record.

[@robertotampioc7318]

It will not happen since basketball still the king there… especially Gilas won gold medal in Asian games basketball… it is all basketball there… it will not happen in our lifetime

[@chadibamangena1765]

Hey Alfie. It would be interesting if you made a “what’s going on with South African Football?” Video. We probably have the best facilities in Africa but can’t even qualify for AFCON.

[@DioGram]

As a Nigerian I strongly agree. We’ve lost too many players to other countries due to our negligence.

[@Divad6686]

Alfie, count me among those who are pleading with you to make a "What On Earth Is Going On In Liga MX" video

[@ezzhesham2255]

Can you please do another video about the "dishonorable mentions" cause I am very interested to hear about your take in Egypt, they were at the highest point of their history with a golden generation reaching 9th in the world ranking and also winning the African cup of nations 3 times in a row which never happened before, even beating the world champion Italy in the confederation cup, and barely losing in the last minute against a very strong Brazil side full of stars with just a penalty, and yet still missed out on the world cup. In my opinion, if there was any team in Africa that could have won the world cup it was that one in 2010, but they never saw the world stage and failed to qualify to South Africa 2010, so I would love to see a video about that, I feel like it would be fairly interesting since not that many people know about how strong that Egyptian side really was back then.

[@yl1614]

Im so glad you mentioned nigeria

[@milesjcarter]

Can we get a video about the current FIFA confederations? Looking at where they do and don't make sense - especially with regard to the OFC since Australia left and huge travel times for some AFC members. Should there be a new conference for West/Central Asia and Oceania be merged into the current AFC? Could the minor island nations of the OFC field a representative team?

[@skyzaid263]

As someone from NZ this is an interesting idea. OFC is so stuffed up rn, not just on the international scene but the club scene as well, so many what ifs, questions and problems

[@stanleylayzell2506]

Splitting Asia into West Asia and Asia-Pacific (incorporating Oceania) would be a great idea imo. The weaker nations would have to play in earlier qualification rounds in any case, so you wouldn't have the travel issue of Tonga having to go to Nepal & vice versa.

[@swee2251]

The Soviet Union football team won gold medal in the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, South Korea. The team beat Brazil in the final (gold medal match). The coach (Anatoliy Byshovets) was hired by South Korea after the dissolution of the Soviet Union. According to the Korean press, this coach was the first in South Korea to use video reviews of other teams to prepare for the matches.

[@vduigdtgfffhhjufd2042]

Great video!

[@SoonYoungKim_94]

It’s interesting to note that countries with large populations imply a diverse pool of talent. But that can also mean that it’s harder to find those talent due to the sheer amount of people residing there.

[@charliecooper1646]

I feel like you could do this video again but in real footballing terms as opposed to social and political factors. E.g England haven’t won a trophy in over 60 years despite having the best facilities and group of players at times or Ireland losing players or Romania underachieving

[@jacquesbryan2811]

England 🤣🤣. Bro they have reached the final of the euros, semis of the 2018 wc.

[@charliecooper1646]

@@jacquesbryan2811 and we bottled it 😂

[@Winfeldjr]

Not seeing Mexico in the first few nations I was surprised but then you hit me with the flag when you announced number 1 LOL. As a Mexican I agree, corruption in the Mexican federation is insane, they had removed relegation from the league they made it impossible for Mexican young talent to move abroad and locked them into the liga mx. Very sad stuff.

[@westcoastmex629]

The difference between Mexico,Argentina and Brazil is that the corrupt officials in futbol in Brazil and Argentina actually are passionate about the sport and actually want to see their national team win but in Mexico pesos and self gain comes first and futbol glory maybe third😅

[@rafaelg092591]

I can say Football maybe in Last but not Least. I am not saying that they should focus on a 100% in the Sport, they can combine it on a 50-50 split with the business and with the sport

[@Roberto-fg9oj]

They re only good at making Coke

[@matthewperrella2649]

If you could do a video on Canadian soccer that would be amazing

[@seandelap8587]

A lot of African countries I would say because football is by and large the most dominant sport on that continent but they have had very little international success outside it and have yet to have any WC winners from there

[@bababababababa6124]

That’s what happens when countries fail to develop their domestic facilities. Potential superstars in the game leave for Europe and eventually play for their new homes over there instead of their native home. Don’t blame them though

[@stackhat8624]

Was going to say Asia but football is not the most popular sport in the vast majority of Asia.

[@lukealvarez3744]

Countries like Morocco and Senegal are starting to show the potential as highlighted by Morocco semi run

[@MihailParshin]

Well, their biggest stars are now playing for England, France and other Europe´s best nations. We already saw how mainly `Afrikan` France made 2 WC finals in a row. Those players could easily play for their countries, but money, fame, potential for WC win and other factors prevents them from playing for their truly nation of birth.

[@Sabundy]

​@@stackhat8624I would not say vast majority. More like 50/50. Football is the most popular in West Asia, South East Asia, and Central Asia. That's easily half of Asia.

[@zardsire2012]

My county, Mexico has the passion be up with the likes of Argentina and Brazil, but something always prevents us from performing.

[@memom1066]

Mexico has more passion in so many ways beyond Argentina and Brazil. Mexican fans back up their team regardless of their low level of play and infrequent true accomplishments. Mexicans back up their teams and athletes beyond what most countries would. Truly commendable but a little delusional for us outsiders.

[@thetartanspartan01]

I wasn't sure if you would add Nigeria but you did and fully agree they should be on this list. If they could really invest in football they have the potential to be a real powerhouse and should be doing as well as Morocco did in the last World Cup in Qatar.

[@YsrMahmoodVlogs]

What you have to understand about Nigeria is the qualification process for it, pretty much the same amount of teams as in Europe, but the descripincy about how teams quality is a factor, as half the teams, mostly qualify, had to say it.

[@jmorrison230582]

Another country worth a shout for this (IMO) is South Africa. I thought they were going to kick on in the late 90s/early 00s and be a top African team, but they've done almost nothing since then other than hosting 2010.