Six European teams have joined Brazil and Argentina in a quarter-final line-up which has an almost wearingly familiar look.

Apart from Denmark and Croatia, who have reached the last eight for the first time, the six others are all back in well-trodden territory.

Germany have reached the last eight for the fifth successive competition, Brazil are there for the 11th time in 13 tournaments and Argentina, coming through a heart-stopping penalty shootout with England, have made it for the sixth time in the last eight World Cups for which they have qualified.

Italy have reached this stage for the sixth time since 1970 while the Dutch are there for the fourth time. World Cup hosts France are also no strangers to the last eight having made it through in each of their last threetournaments in 1982, 1986 and now 1998.

The expansion of the World Cup allowed Africa to enlarge its quota from three to five nations, Asia from two to four and Central and North America from two to three. Yet though soccer's third world increased its representation from seven to 12 teams, only two Nigeria and Mexico made it through to the second round and none appear in the quarter-finals.

There is little sign that the gap is closing. In 1994 four of the seven nations from outside Europe and South America Nigeria, Mexico, the United States and Saudi Arabia made it into the second round in what was then seen as a promise of greater things to come, even if all four vanished without reaching the last eight.

There is a remarkable consistency in the teams who battle through to the later stages of the tournament.

Only 10 teams have ever reached the World Cup final and only two of them Sweden in 1958 and England in 1966 have reached it just once. Since the Second World War, only three teams fromoutside Europe and South America have reached the quarter-finals North Korea (1966), Mexico (1970 and 1986) and Cameroon (1990). In fact, the quarter-final geographical breakdown reveals consistent pattern between European and South American teams.

This year six European teams have made it through along with Brazil and Argentina whereas in 1994 it was seven from Europe plus Brazil.

Five or six European teams regularly feature in the last eight while either Brazil or Argentina, and often both, have made it through at every World Cup since the Second World War.

Although there is still everything to play for in the quarter-finals tomorrow and Saturday, World Cup pedigree suggests that the semifinalists should be Italy, Brazil, Argentina and Germany.