Re: FIFA World Cup 2026 :Canada/Mexico/United States: Discussion Thread
Exactly, that is the point: these new football nations are growing a lot, only 10 years ago nobody would have thought that a player from Uzbekistan would be paid 40 million euros. Georgia is another great example, back in the days they only Kaladze and a couple of decent strikers like Arveladze and Kobiashvili, now they have a few very good players and Kvaratskhelia, despite his young age, is already by far the greatest player they ever had. The goalkeeper, Mamardashvili, will shortly join Liverpool. This means the football movement is growing a lot in these countries.
How many players from Afghanistan are participating in the European leagues? Central Asian nations are good in sports because a few decades back they were part of the USSR. But due to cold war, players from the USSR were not allowed to participate in these leagues. Times have changed, and now increasingly promising players from countries such as Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan are being hired by the European clubs. Russia also has a good number of promising players, but due to the embargo they are banned from playing in Europe.
