and Germany were dominant, and later Brazil. But then things changed.

Argentina played in 3 out of 4 World Cup finals from 1978-1990, wining twice. They also won the Copa America in 1991 & 1993 (it was played every 2 years for a while there). So 4 major titles in 15 years, plus one additional World Cup final appearance.

But after 1993, Argentina didn’t win a major trophy again until the 2021 Copa America — a 28-year drought. They did have one appearance in a WC Final during that time (2014), and a few in Copa finals, but no trophies. However, since 2021, they’ve now won the World Cup and 2 Copas — so 3 major trophies in 4 years. And they were finalists in 2 of the last 3 World Cups.

Germany was maybe even more dominant. From 1982-1990 they made it to the Final in 3 straight World Cups, winning once (1990). Between 1980 & 1996 they made it to 3 Euro finals and won twice. So 3 major titles and 3 additional major Finals played during that stretch. If you extend the timeline back to the 1972 Euros and 1974 World Cup, both of which Germany won (but which were before my time), then it was 5 major trophies and 4 additional Finals in 24 years (‘72-‘96).

They did win one World Cup after that run, in 2014, but that’s their only major title since the 1996 European championship. They were also runners-up in the 2002 World Cup and 2008 Euros. But they’re nowhere near as dominant as they used to be, and the last decade especially has been pretty bleak for them, by their standards.

Brazil had a dominant run from 1994-2002, playing in 3 straight World Cup finals, winning twice. They also won 4 out of 5 Copas America between 1997-2007. But they haven’t made it to a World Cup final since 2002, and only won the Copa America once since 2007. It’s hard to believe, but they actually had another long dry spell between 1970 and 1994, which had followed an earlier period of dominance (3 WC titles from 1958-1970).

Anyway, it will be interesting to see if Argentina can sustain its recent excellence, and whether Germany & Brazil can start another winning cycle soon.