How well have hosts historically performed at the FIFA World Cup?
The 2022 World Cup will be hosted by Qatar for the very first time. The Asian nation will also be taking part in their first ever World Cup and face Ecuador on November 20th in what will be a historic opening fixture.
But how has the host nation historically performed in previous World Cups? Have they lived up to the lofty expectations placed upon them by their fans, or have they failed to make a significant mark on their home tournament?
Having looked back at all previous 21 World Cups to have taken place since the inaugural competition back in 1930, we've listed the performances of each host country below.
* South Korea and Japan were joint-hosts of the 2002 World Cup, currently the only World Cup to have been hosted by more than one country.
It's clear to see that a host nation historically performs well in a World Cup on home territory, no doubt taking advantage of being in familiar surroundings with a raucous crowd firmly behind them in each game. South Africa in the 2010 World Cup are the only hosts who failed to make it out of the group stage.
Of the 22 host countries, four ended up winning the World Cup on home territory. Three of those four countries were European with perhaps one of the most notably being England, whose only World Cup triumph to this day came at Wembley Stadium in 1966. France joined the Three Lions in becoming World Champions for the first time ever on their own patch 32 years later in the 1998 World Cup, whilst the only non-European nation to win the World Cup as hosts were Argentina in 1978.
