BRAZIL - OR TO PUT IT ANOTHER WAY

We are used to thinking of football in national terms, but what if we looked at continents instead?


The 32 teams at the Brazil World Cup represent countries from around the world, and qualifying games are organized to reflect that. This means that the nations currently vying away in Brazil are not actually the best 32 teams in the world. So which of the seven continents is best represented?
                   Continent       Teams
                   EUROPE           13                   SOUTH AMERICA     6                   AFRICA            5                   NORTH AMERICA     4                   ASIA              3                   AUSTRALASIA       1                   ANTARCTICA        0
Here, I've included Russia as European, since most of its football takes place west of the Urals. Also, in the New World, I've designated anywhere north of Panama as North American.
It's not surprising that Europe tops the list, after all football began in England, which is still nominally a part of Europe. South America is in second place, unsurprisingly since all of Latin America is football crazy.
So ... now that we're down to the last 16, how do these figures change?
              Continent        32  16
              EUROPE           13   6              SOUTH AMERICA     6   5              NORTH AMERICA     4   3              AFRICA            5   2              AUSTRALASIA       1   0              ASIA              3   0              ANTARCTICA        0   0
Or to put it another way, ranking the resilience of each continent by looking at what percentage of its teams have exited:
              Continent        32  16  %lost
              ANTARCTICA        0   0     0              SOUTH AMERICA     6   5    17              NORTH AMERICA     4   3    25              EUROPE           13   6    54              AFRICA            5   2    60              ASIA              3   0   100              AUSTRALASIA       1   0   100
So it's "G'day sport and Sayonara!" to Asia and Australasia, but a resounding, "Go Antarctica! You'll never walk alone!"

And now you know how statistics can be used to prove just about any point you care to, and not only in football. By the way, if there's a police authority or health department that would like me to "massage the message", my fee for statistical work remains a trivial £500 a day.