By definition, a World Cup in Africa will be unlike any other.
It will be the largest sporting event – make that the largest event, period – ever staged in the continent. It may also be the costliest, with a price tag of more than $4.6 billion.
The World Cup is the largest and most watched sporting event on the globe – 32 nations playing 64 matches in nine cities over 31 days.
It will be the fourth World Cup staged in the Southern Hemisphere but the first since 1978, when Argentina was host.
The U.S. has never won a game in Mexico but did surprisingly well last summer in South Africa. At the Confederations Cup, the U.S. upset Spain, 2-0, in Bloemfontein and gave Brazil a scare in Johannesburg, losing 3-2 in the championship match.
Assuming South Africa doesn't pull off the greatest upset in sports history, and discounting Uruguay, which last won in 1950, that would leave six teams in the running: Argentina, Brazil, England, France, Germany and Italy. Since 1966, only one team not in that group has even reached the final: the Netherlands, at West Germany in 1974 and at Argentina in 1978. The Dutch lost to the host nation both times.
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