Not long after the recent Football World Cup I noticed an interesting
coincidence regarding the relationship between winners of the tournament
and Chinese astrology. As you may be aware, Chinese astrology is based
on a 12-year cycle - each year in the cycle has an animal sign.
What I noticed was that this year is the Year of the Dog, and Italy won
the World Cup. Twelve years ago was also the Year of the Dog, and I
remembered (painfully) that Brazil defeated Italy that year. 24 years
ago, another Year of the Dog, Italy won the World Cup. I was noticing
a pattern. To illustrate, I constructed a table of past winners (and
runners-up) with the relevant Chinese sign (see below).
The observations:
* Italy and Brazil are the ONLY winners in the Year of the Dog (3 each)
* Italy has made the final in two other Years of the Dog, but lost both
to Brazil
* Germany is the only multiple winner in the Year of the Horse (2)
* Germany and Argentina are the only teams to make the final more than
once in the Year of the Horse (4 times and 3 times respectively)
* Six different teams have won (once only) in the Year of the Tiger
* Brazil has won every final it has reached, EXCEPT for two of its
three finals in the Year of the Tiger
So if history is any guide ...
2010 (Tiger) Could be a chance for a first-time winner
2014 (Horse) Germany or Argentina should make the final
2018 (Dog) Brazil, Italy or both should make the final
World Cup Finalists and Chinese Signs
| Year | Winner | Runner Up | Chinese Sign |
|---|
| 1930 | Uruguay | Argentina | Horse |
| 1934 | Italy | Czechoslovakia | Dog |
| 1938 | Italy | Hungary | Tiger |
| 1950 | Uruguay | Brazil | Tiger |
| 1954 | Germany | Hungary | Horse |
| 1958 | Brazil | Sweden | Dog |
| 1962 | Brazil | Czechoslovakia | Tiger |
| 1966 | England | Germany | Horse |
| 1970 | Brazil | Italy | Dog |
| 1974 | Germany | Netherlands | Tiger |
| 1978 | Argentina | Netherlands | Horse |
| 1982 | Italy | Germany | Dog |
| 1986 | Argentina | Germany | Tiger |
| 1990 | Germany | Argentina | Horse |
| 1994 | Brazil | Italy | Dog |
| 1998 | France | Brazil | Tiger |
| 2002 | Brazil | Germany | Horse |
| 2006 | Italy | France | Dog |
WINNERS
| | Brazil | Italy | Germany | Uruguay | Argentina | England | France | TOTAL |
|---|
| Horse | 1 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 6 |
|---|
| Dog | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 |
|---|
| Tiger | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 6 |
|---|
| TOTAL | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 18 |
|---|
[I did this analysis on July 12/13, but only now got round to writing it up]
