South America will be absent from the World Cup semi-finals for the fifth time in the tournament's history after the continent's top players either failed to excel or suffered injuries at key moments during the tournament in Russia.
Brazil, Argentina, Colombia, Uruguay and Peru all contributed to making the 2018 World Cup one of the most dramatic in history and there was rarely a dull moment when they and their thousands or colourful, vociferous fans were around.
For all latest news, follow The Daily Star's Google News channel. Four out of five of them got through the group stage -- a better percentage than Europe where 10 out of 14 teams progressed -- and at one point, they rolled off seven wins in a row.
But it all ended in tears as Argentina and Colombia went out in the round of 16, the latter on penalties, while Uruguay and Brazil both lost their quarter-finals on Friday, to France and Belgium respectively.
France proved to be the bogey team for South America as they eliminated Peru in the group stage, Argentina and then Uruguay to remain unbeaten at the World Cup against teams from the continent in 40 years.
But if there was a recurring theme, it was that there was an over-dependence on big name players who either failed to make the difference or suffered injury at key moments.
The most obvious was Argentina's Lionel Messi. The 31-year-old often looked detached from what was going on around him and did not seem to enjoy his fourth World Cup.
But, while Messi was disappointing, Neymar was infuriating.
Brazil's top player should have come out of the tournament as the victim of FIFA's permissiveness towards tactical fouling, as he was tripped and pushed by rivals.
But his constant complaining, his theatrical tumbles and repeated attempts to win penalties earned widespread reprobation.
He wasted scoring chances by taking a tumble instead and there were moments when his histrionics distracted the team from the task at hand.
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