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World Cup hosts through the years

(AP/Alexandre Loureiro)

Much has been made of the pressure on Brazil as hosts of the World Cup, and rightly so: aside from the potentially nasty social unrest in the country, hosts tend to not win the World Cup. In 19 previous World Cups (with 20 previous hosts, as South Korea and Japan jointly hosted the ’02 World Cup) only six host nations have won the tournament. Brazil does have some history firmly on their side ahead of today’s match with Croatia, however: No host nation has ever lost their opening match.

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