Many of us Americans watched the 2014 World Cup in Brazil with fascination, and a little hope that maybe the US would break out of their "Group of Death" and into the "win or go home" knockout round. Miraculously, and due largely to tremendous play by the Americans, probably also an injured superstar on Portuguese' team, and a little luck, the US did advance, only to be promptly sent home in the next game. So, are we improving? Do we have reason to hope for future success?
Let's look at the German National Football League System. And mind you, there is a synergy between "German" and "system". We in the US have a few National Soccer League teams and a few college teams and local teams. They in Germany have 2,344 divisions with 33,633 teams, all bound together through rules dictating relegation and promotion. I like the relegation and promotion system, which professional teams in the US could learn from, but even baseball is not so organized in the US. American football has no official "farm teams" (aside from the college SEC) and nothing even approaching this level of organization.
So the answer is: NO. No other country in the world ever has any chance and it is only by a miracle that any team has ever, or will ever, beat the Germans. Nobody else could ever care so much and spend so much time and energy to develop their team so, so...systematically. The future of the World Cup is all black... and gold, and red.
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