South America is the revelation at this World Cup.  Not because Argentina and Brazil are doing well; that’s expected.

But because the entire South American delegation of five made the second round … and four of them are in the quarterfinals.

And when was the last time South America was the best continent in the world in … anything?

Exactly.

“Longest river” doesn’t count. “Impressive ruins” … most continents have those, too. Coffee? Some prefer Africa’s or Java’s. Cocaine? Afghanistan grows more poppies than does Colombia, though I frankly cannot vouch for a superior end product.

Most llamas? Most piranhas? Doesn’t count.

Most coups-d’etat?  Think Africa has them beat.

Biggest rain forest. I think South America wins that one, but that is in spite of its inhabitants, not because of it.

Soccer? Now we’re talking. South America apparently has the best national soccer teams on the planet, by raw numbers and certainly on a per capita basis.

Now that is a significant and palpable accomplishment.

Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay are still playing. Chile might be, too, had it not gotten Brazil in the first knockout round.

The composite record of South American sides in this tournament: 15 victories, four draws, two defeats. South American was unbeaten in its first 14 matches, going 11-3-0 until Chile lost to Spain.

The South American sides have outscored the opposition by a wide margin, too: 22-6 in the group phase, 27-8 in all matches against outside opponents. (Ignoring Brazil 3, Chile 0 here.)

So, what’s up?

–South America can play. We always have known that. Brazil has won five World Cups, more than any other nation. Argentina has two and so does Uruguay. That’s nine of the 17 all-time.

–The rest of South America seems to be getting better because of The Big Two. Chile, Uruguay, Paraguay, even Colombia and Bolivia … those teams can beat Brazil and Argentina, especially in the grueling, 18-match South American qualifying tournament. You can’t just show up and hope to hang with Brazil and Argentina, and the rest of the continent has noticed.

–Might be something to this Southern Hemisphere thing. Water swirls down drains in the opposite direction that it does in the Northern Hemisphere. The stars are different.  Maybe the South Americans are more comfortable with this winter-in-June thing than the Northies are and the results are bearing that out.

–South America has the best of both worlds in player development.  Its best players are snatched up by the big European clubs, where they can further improve against elite competition from all over the world. But South America’s own club soccer, though not nearly as well-funded, is significant and deeply rooted, and those clubs must develop their own talent because they know Europe is going to keep skimming off the best. The result: A steady flow of rising stars.

South America should be proud of itself, and not just for generating half the quarterfinalists. They can also take pride in the general observation that only coherent, reasonably free countries tend to produce World Cup champions (Mussolini’s Italy, 1934, being the only exception)  or even contenders.

The way this is going … expect an all-South America title match. Argentina and Brazil? Sure. But maybe even Uruguay-Paraguay, too.