While the number of European seeds has remained the same, the World Cup now has increased from 6 groups of 24 teams to 8 groups of 32 teams. Countries in other continents are doing fairly well, as evidenced by the increasing number and success of teams from Africa and Asia, including Japan. And, with the end of the Cold War, European talent has been spread thin among the 46 countries. That means a European country’s chances of winning, much less making the tournament are less likely now than ever before. The fact that 4 European teams are in the finals, to me, doesn’t mean the rest of the world doesn’t like or even live the game.