In sports, there is a popular belief that walls help at home. By definition, with the support of their fans, it is easier to oppose rivals, but there are also opposite cases when athletes cannot withstand the psychological pressure from the responsibility that they have, and show a completely different level than their fans expect from them.
Domestic competitions are held on different continents - the European Championship, America's Cup, Asian Cup, African Cup of Nations and CONCACAF Gold Cup. In each of them, there were times when the walls ensured victory for the home teams. Most of these examples, of course, were in the South American Copa America - the oldest of all. More often than others, Uruguay's footballers received the honorary trophy in front of their spectators - 7 times. Argentina has one less home win. The Brazilian Ball Wizards have won four success stories. In Africa, the Ghana team has a slight advantage, having twice won tournaments on its territory - in 1963 and 1978. Iran has won the Asian Cup at home more often than others, but also only 2 times (the other 5 triumphants have one successful performance each).
The European Continental Cohort of Champions on their own fields is the most humble of them all. Only three national teams once celebrated home success - Spain (1964), Italy (1968) and France with the legendary Michel Platini (1984).
The unifying tournaments for all football confederations are the Olympic Games, and since 1930 they have been joined by the World Championship, the first of which, by the way, became the victorious one for the host national team of Uruguay. The first Olympics were also won by the organizers of the games - football players from Great Britain. They also once became the best on the planet within the World Cup. Then, in 1966, the legendary Sir Bobby Charlton, who led his team to victory, shone among the founders of the game. In general, in the entire history of Olympic football tournaments, two more teams managed to please their fans, as they say, "without leaving the cash register." In 1920, the Belgians won the tournament in Antwerp, and the Barcelona gold went to the Spanish national team. The last to become the best football team in the world in front of their own fans were the French back in 1998. And before them, the native walls helped Italy, Germany (FRG), Argentina, as well as the aforementioned national teams of Uruguay and England.
Women's football has also seen the cases we describe. In 1999, American women, more often than others becoming the strongest on the planet, won the world title at a tournament in the United States, which was the only such phenomenon of its kind. Girls from the country of the Stars and Stripes also became the best in the Olympiad standings - in the year women's football debuted in the Atlanta Summer Games program.
