The rise of a new world order?

The World Cup in Russia is into its final leg. After so many twists and turns, dramas and upsets we are left with four European teams to fight for the ultimate glory. One of them was set to leave the biggest stage last night. And in the next 24 hours the battle line for Sunday's blockbuster final will be in black and white (excluding the official ticket for the final where you will find it as 'Match 64 – Winner 61 v Winner 62).

We have got two teams in the last four who have won the World Cup before -- England in 1966 and France in 1998. Belgium and Croatia are Europe's middleweights and are yet win any continental or global silverware. But that does not necessarily mean that they don't deserve to be where they are now.

The crux of the problem however is that Belgium are no Italy, the four-time World Cup winners who failed to make it into the finals this time, and Croatia are no Netherlands, one the most attractive teams in Europe who had a forgettable World Cup qualifying and failed to make the cut.

The absence of Italy and Netherlands has certainly disturbed the equilibrium in the group phase leading up to the knockout stage. It served even as easy sailing for certain teams like England following the early departure of holders Germany from the group stages. We may still have a surprise in store over the next couple of days. But will that change the world order? Not many will dare to bet on that (the safe way is to consult the world football ranking for the last four years or beyond that).

The Russia World Cup is so far a disaster as far as the world football order is concerned. It is a deviation from the general belief and, more importantly, was a slap to the popular propaganda derived mostly from commercial interest groups, who love to promote superstars. Some people wanted to sell Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo and Neymar more than anything else in a game where collective effort took strong stride against individualism.

I have had the opportunity of being in the mixed zone of Brazil and Argentina and also got updates from a Portugal mixed zone. The trend was similar -- neither Messi nor Ronaldo nor Neymar cared to talk in the mixed zone. They were happy to sell it through Instagram posts, which is very popular among their millions of fans.

This World Cup has also provided the impression that it is an extension of European football where the rest are visitors to entertain for a while without any serious intention of challenging the common trend. Uruguay perhaps forgot when they won their second World Cup title. Argentina visit every four years with the dream of another Maradona magic but 1986 has never returned. Even for record five-time champions Brazil the trophy-less spell is too long since their last success in 2002.

This is a World Cup that can be best described as nothing out of the ordinary. It lacked the African flair and failed to produce a young player (except for French right back Benjamin Pavard).

If the World Cup is all about colour then it has so far been fast fading. When we were in Saint Petersburg during the group stage games, the fan fest zone was full of enthusiasm and noise. Before yesterday's semifinal the sky over the second biggest Russian city was not only gloomy, it was gloomier on the otherwise electric streets. There were a noticeable number of French fans along with the Belgians. There were also the odd Brazilian fans along with the Japanese and Mexicans but the vibe, which has been the soul of the World Cup, was missing.