Phil Ball looks back on a strange tournament for the Spanish team, in which they missed out yet again, but for once did not take the rap

Getting beyond the World Cup quarter-finals would have represented a major image problem for Spain. The whole country would have been required to change its mind-set, from might-have-been-if-it-hadn’t-been-for-the-refs to something else less com­plicated, less open to the historical shrug. There had been signs that the country had been preparing for this, the press beginning to break its self-imposed vow to keep all op­timism and flag-waving to a minimum.

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France's previous triumphs have shielded both players and coach from too much derision after their embarassing exit, says Neil McCarthy

It is worth underlining just how bad France were. Reigning World Cup champions have frequently dis­appointed, but never to this extent. Despite boasting the leading strikers of the French, Eng­lish and Italian leagues, they didn’t even score a single goal. It was the worst performance of a World Cup holder, surpassing the 1962 winners Brazil, who at least managed to score goals and win one of three matches in 1966.

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The US saw their maserplan for World Cup domination fall into place. Rich Zahradnik offers an insight on their tournament

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! The sound inside my head when the alarm clock goes off at 1.20am for Argentina v Nigeria. One -twenty in the morning. I am not meant to be awake now. I am old. My living room is dark, quiet, empty. I don’t even bother to turn the light on. Daytime from the TV is strange at this hour, filling the room with Asian sunshine. I can’t have a cup of coffee because I need to go back to bed in a couple of hours for another couple of hours, so that I can wake up and watch England v Sweden then drive for an hour and a half to play for my Sunday league side and then talk intelligently with my team-mates about these games I’m probably not even going to remember.

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David O'Byrne saw the Turkey outdo all World Cup expectations despite Hakan Sukur's baleful influence

Before the start of the World Cup, few Turks had ex­pec­ted their team to last as far as the semi-finals. After the first two group matches, that number had shrunk con­siderably. As a scenario of failure, relinquishing a one-goal lead not once but twice had a distinctly familiar ring. A decade of senselessly chucking away pro­m­ising positions was capped last November when Turkey gifted Sweden two goals in the last three min­utes of the final qualifying match, leaving them to face a play-off against Austria.

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The World Cup produced some truly awful TV. Cameron Carter relives the BBC's late-night shocker, while Barney Ronay laments the humiliation of Paul Gascoigne

BBC ~
I admit it doesn’t take too much to appear the clever one in a broadcasting partnership with Denise van Outen or Kelly Brook, but Johnny Vaughan has been funny and will be funny again (like our plucky England team, he’s relatively young). It is, however, becoming increasingly difficult to find people who still believe this. Like his recent sitcom ’Orrible, Johhny Vaughan’s World Cup Extra provided fewer moments of pleasure than a motivational talk from a reformed crack addict.

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