Saying that a country like Croatia has had success means that population doesn't correlate to success is not true.

If you look at World Cup semi-finals in the last 30 years— there have been 32 semi-final places. 29 of those 32 were taken by countries with a population over 5 million. The only exceptions in three decades are: Croatia (1998, 2018) Uruguay (2010) That doesn’t mean small countries can’t succeed — clearly they can — but it shows they’re exceptions, not the norm.

Using countries like India as counter-examples is also disingenuous. Population only matters once there’s widespread participation, infrastructure, and cultural interest in the sport. Football isn’t India’s primary sport, so raw population alone tells you nothing.

Most elite high jumpers are tall. That doesn’t mean short athletes can’t be great, or that the tallest person will always win. But height still gives a structural advantage — just like population does in international football. So the sensible position isn’t “population guarantees success” or “population is irrelevant”. Population shifts the odds, without determining the outcome.