Before every World Cup, a whole list of “curses” gets dug up and passed around. Of course, we all know curses are mostly just for fun — it’s not the Middle Ages anymore — but that doesn’t stop them from adding a bit of extra spice to watching the tournament, right? Here’s a roundup of the most commonly cited World Cup curses, and a look at who each one is targeting this time around.
The Defending Champions’ Curse: This Time It’s Argentina’s Turn
This is the one modern-era curse that’s hit every single time.
Look at how recent defending champions have fared: France won in 1998, then crashed out in the 2002 group stage without scoring a single goal. Italy won in 2006, then finished bottom of their group in 2010. Spain won in 2010, then were packed off in the 2014 group stage too. Germany won in 2014, then finished last in their group in 2018. Of the last five defending champions, four went down in the group stage — the only one to escape was France, who made the 2022 final.
This time, the defending champion is Argentina. They’ve got Messi, they crushed their opener, and they’re sitting at the fourth-shortest odds to win it all heading in — but the road to the title is full of challenges, and the moment they stumble, this curse will be all over headlines worldwide.
That said, I actually think this curse is something of a good sign in its own way — it reflects how much more developed youth academies have become across the world, meaning no single nation can dominate the way they once did. Don’t believe me? Just look at how many new stars have emerged since the last World Cup: Lamine Yamal, Jude Bellingham, Jamal Musiala, Pedri, Julián Álvarez, Enzo Fernández… the rise of all these young players has only made World Cup competition fiercer.
The European Curse on American Soil: Every European Power Is in the Crosshairs
This curse has already been broken, but that doesn’t stop it from being worth knowing about — especially since it’s particularly relevant this time, given that the 2026 World Cup is being hosted across the United States, Canada, and Mexico — the Americas.
Before 2014, every single World Cup held in the Americas was won by a South American team (Uruguay, Brazil, and Argentina taking turns lifting the trophy) — no European team had ever won on American soil. That curse was finally broken when Germany were crowned champions in Brazil in 2014. Now that the World Cup is back in the Americas, the question resurfaces: can favorites like England, France, Spain, Portugal, and the Netherlands go all the way this time?
Personally, I think this curse probably had some basis in reality back in the day — World Cup venues in the Americas were historically quite hot, which European players weren’t used to. But with more venues now in play and FIFA introducing several regulations (like mandatory hydration breaks), the curse’s grip has weakened considerably. On top of that, European teams’ physical conditioning and sports science have become far more sophisticated, and modern World Cup crowds are drawn from all over the world rather than being dominated by the host continent’s own fans — making it harder to recreate that old-school, overwhelming South American home atmosphere in the stands.
The Reigning Euro Champion’s Curse: Spain Should Watch Out
Teams that just won the European Championship tend to underperform at the following World Cup.
France won Euro 2000, then went out in the 2002 World Cup group stage. Greece won Euro 2004, then went out in the 2006 group stage. Spain defended their Euro title in 2012, then were packed off in the 2014 World Cup group stage. Italy won Euro 2020, and didn’t even qualify for the 2022 World Cup. The one exception is Spain, who won Euro 2008 and then went on to lift the World Cup in 2010.
This time, the reigning European Champion is Spain — the very team that broke the curse last time around. So the question worth watching is whether the curse holds this time, or whether Spain proves they have a built-in “anti-curse constitution.”
The England Curse: The Three Lions, Forever One Step Short
Strictly speaking, this one is more of “England’s very own curse.” Ever since winning it all on home soil in 1966, England have repeatedly been tipped as favorites at major tournaments, only to have their hearts broken in one way or another every time — especially that ever-present penalty-shootout nightmare. Their squad on paper gets more star-studded with every cycle, yet the result is always the same one step short. Hyping England up as the favorite every cycle might just be another curse in itself.
And after today’s match against Ghana ended, this curse looks a little more believable yet again — several glaring missed chances, especially that open-goal miss from Kane. Are they about to fall in the knockout rounds once more?
Mexico’s “Quinto Partido” Curse: Seven Tournaments Hitting the Same Wall
Mexico’s curse is precise to an almost eerie degree. From 1994 all the way through 2018 — seven consecutive World Cups — Mexico reliably made it out of the group stage and into the Round of 16… and then stopped right there, exactly at that “fifth match” of the tournament, every single time. Seven tournaments, seven times, without a single exception. Among Mexican fans, this phenomenon even has its own dedicated name: “El Quinto Partido” (the fifth-match curse). The moment Mexico touches the Round of 16 door again this time, you can bet this topic will be dragged right back out.
Japan’s Quarterfinal Ceiling
Japan’s progress in recent cycles has been plain to see — they made the Round of 16 in 2002, 2010, 2018, and 2022, holding Germany to a draw and coming back to beat Spain along the way, with their results looking better each time. But every single time they hit that Round of 16 wall, they just can’t get past it. The quarterfinals remain a threshold Japan has never crossed. If Japan stop at the Round of 16 again this time, this ceiling will get talked about all over again — but their group-stage performance this tournament has actually been striking, a real departure from their old “always a coin-flip no matter the opponent” reputation, showing genuinely strong dominance instead.
This time, though, the draw seems to be playing a cruel joke on them. If they advance as group runners-up, they’d face either Brazil or Morocco — two heavyweights ranked 6th and 7th in the world respectively. Forget the Round of 16 — they might run into a brutal test as early as the Round of 32.
The Golden Boot Curse: The Top Scorer Is Fated to Watch Someone Else Lift the Trophy
The World Cup’s Golden Boot winner is almost never a member of that year’s champion team. The most famous exception in history is Ronaldo in 2002 — that year, he wasn’t just the core of Brazil’s title-winning run, he pocketed the Golden Boot at the same time too. A Golden Boot-and-champion double is a rare feat by any historical measure. In most other years, the tournament’s top scorer ends up at the awards ceremony watching some other team’s captain hoist the big golden trophy. This tournament’s Golden Boot race is bound to be another tug-of-war between “most goals scored” and “still standing at the end.”
The Netherlands’ “Best Team Never to Win It” Curse
The Netherlands’ standing in football history is beyond question — the birthplace of Total Football, having produced countless world-class stars and coaching philosophies — yet they’ve always fallen just one step short on the World Cup final stage. They lost to West Germany in 1974, to Argentina in 1978, and to Spain in 2010. Three finals, three heartbreaks, and to this day, zero titles. The label “greatest team to never win it all” has been stuck to the Dutch national team for over half a century now.
The Personal Curse: Harry Kane’s Trophy Drought
This one’s a bit more personal. Harry Kane won the World Cup Golden Boot in 2018, has long been England’s captain and most reliable goalscorer, and after years at Tottenham finally moved to Bayern Munich — where he’s now finally won a Bundesliga title (though to be fair, Bayern not winning the Bundesliga would be the real news). But beyond that, he still hasn’t won a Champions League or a major international trophy. He’s never been short on technique, output, or leadership — what’s missing is the one trophy that would prove it all. In a sense, this World Cup is also Kane’s personal battle against his own curse.
The Ones That Have Already Expired
A few curses have already lost their power over time — listed here purely for fun:
- The Confederations Cup Curse: the Confederations Cup champion never went on to win the next World Cup. Trouble is, that competition was discontinued after 2017, so the curse has no way to ever strike again.
- Pelé’s Kiss of Death: legend had it that any team Pelé publicly backed to win was doomed. With Pelé’s passing in late 2022, this tongue-in-cheek curse has officially passed into history too.
- No African Team Can Reach the Semifinals: once considered an iron law — until Morocco broke straight through it by reaching the semifinals in 2022.
The Full List at a Glance
| Curse | Affected Party This Tournament |
|---|---|
| Defending champions’ group-stage curse | Argentina |
| European curse on American soil | England, France, Spain, Portugal, Netherlands, and other European powers |
| Reigning Euro champion’s curse | Spain |
| England’s major-tournament curse | England |
| Mexico’s “Quinto Partido” curse | Mexico |
| Japan’s Round-of-16 ceiling | Japan |
| Golden Boot curse | This tournament’s top-scorer candidates |
| Netherlands’ “best team never to win” curse | Netherlands |
| The Harry Kane curse | Harry Kane |
| Confederations Cup curse / Pelé’s kiss of death / Africa’s semifinal curse | Already expired |
A Word From the Author
Honestly — nobody really believes in curses. Most people just enjoy them as a bit of fun. But the reason these curses keep circulating isn’t entirely without merit, either — a defending champion getting complacent and thoroughly scouted by everyone else, European teams struggling to adjust to conditions in the Americas, the crushing weight of an entire nation’s expectations — there’s genuine footballing logic operating underneath all of these. So rather than calling them curses, maybe it’s more accurate to call them a mirror reminding you not to get too overconfident. They add an extra angle — and a bit more fun — to watching the games.