Brazil's World Cup has been packed with many surprises. Many would have expected the European teams to perform their best in the tournament, since World Cup is European-centric. However, this was not what took place as evident in the recent bout of matches.

Only six teams from Europe have made it to the knockout round of the tournament. This was the first time that the fewest European teams ever entered the knockout stage since the tournament increased its teams to 32 in the France tournament in 1998.

The only time fewest European teams took part in the knockout rounds in the World Cup was in 1970. Only 16 teams made it to the formal tournament that year. These teams were Soviet Union, Italy, West Germany and England.

Many teams which were predicted to be included in the round 16 in the World Cup 2014 noticeably didn't make it. Because of this, fans conjure up various guesses on the events that would take place next.

Costa Rica was a less favourite team in this year's tournament. Who would have thought that a tiny and unknown country would advance to the latter eight top teams in this iconic sports event?

Costa Rica's admirable determination and will power were the main factors in driving them to achieve unexpected success. It just goes to show with perseverance and the "never give up" attitude, every team may turn out to be the best they can be. This sets a valuable lesson that the impossible is never within out of one's reach.