How hard was South Africa’s road at this World Cup?

Every team’s road through the tournament, on one chart. Each line shows how hard each stage is. The base is the gap in FIFA world ranking between the two sides; on top of that, current form (each team’s last three matches, and how convincingly they were won against how strong an opponent) nudges the step: a hot opponent makes it taller, a team’s own hot form makes its own steps shorter. Higher means a tougher road. In the group stage the opponents are known, so each match sits at a fixed height; each knockout round shows the average difficulty across every opponent still left in that round. South Africa’s road is highlighted, along with every team it played. Hover or tap any team to compare, or pick one from the legend.