One minor point. The Netherlands haven’t dropped any points as suggested. Though both their winning goals have been from defensive headers which dropped to a Dutch player.

1. We are not in Europe anymore. When France or Germany or England or some other European nation host the World Cup, it is essentially a home game for every European nation, most of whom grew up within 800 to 1000 miles from where the games are being held! This is like growing up in Kansas and being forced to play your group games in Pittsburgh. Big deal. Now that it is not in Europe, it is definitely a neutral site: equal footing for all. No so surprise that the Europeans don’t look so mighty when when you get them out of their comfy homes.

2. The ball. I have not seen one goal yet come from a direct free kick. This hurts more technically gifted teams who can score in this situation with some regularity. Now, no one cans seem to control the ball from distance. It’s not just a goalie issue.

But the big thing here is that it allows a team to drop back defensively far deeper because teams don’t have to worry about long range bombs. Why bother “stepping up” when their are no worries sitting back since no one can hit a long shot anyway?