Novelty football stats · men's national teams
Netherlands earned 0.82 World Cups. They won zero.
We rebuilt every men's international since 1872 into an Elo rating, then simulated all 23 World Cups a hundred-thousand times each. The result: xWC — the number of World Cups a team should have won. Then we compared it to reality. It got petty.
Most unlucky
Strongest right now
All-time peak
Most lucky
On the rise
Falling fastest
Biggest shock ever
Most consistent contender
Section 01
Elo over history →
Chart any team's rise and fall since 1872. Live rankings, all-time peaks, per-team journeys.
Section 02
Expected World Cups →
Who deserved trophies they never lifted — and who got lucky. The full teams × tournaments grid.
Section 03
Expected continental cups →
The same question for the European Championship, the African Cup of Nations, the AFC Asian Cup, the OFC Nations Cup, the CONCACAF Gold Cup, and Copa América: who should have lifted it, and who actually did.