MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. (AP) — More World Cup teams. Same World Cup story.

This edition started with 48 teams; it’s now down to eight, with six of those from Europe. And unless Morocco pulls off a series of surprising outcomes over the final two weeks, the champion will come from Europe or South America.

Again. As always.

A tournament that has been around for nearly a century — the first World Cup was in 1930 — has been contested on 22 previous occasions. The champions: 12 from Europe, 10 from South America, zero from the rest of the globe combined.

This year’s quarterfinal lineup: six from Europe, one from South America, one from Africa. Not exactly a history-bucking set of outcomes there.

That said, it seems like even some of Europe’s best players are surprised at how well this World Cup has gone.

“I thought it was not possible to do some things,” Norway star Erling Haaland said after his two goals helped his team beat Brazil for a spot in the quarterfinals — the first time his nation has gone this deep in a World Cup. “I guess I’m wrong.”

He was wrong in a good way. The tournament hosts were wrong in a not-so-good way.

North America had three cracks at breaking through this year in a bigger-than-ever, 48-team World Cup with the U.S., Mexico and Canada all co-hosts.

None of those teams even made the quarterfinals.

“We need to get over that next hurdle,” U.S. star Christian Pulisic said in a televised interview after the Americans were ousted by Belgium in the round of 16, a lopsided 4-1 defeat that shows how far North America still has to go. “Trying to compete and beat the world’s best, that’s our next step … There’s still another step that we have to take.”

The three hosts all got through the group stage and the round of 32 with ease. The U.S., Mexico and Canada had a combined 9-2-1 record in those matches, outscoring opponents by a total of 20 goals. Things looked promising, to say the least.

Then came the round of 16. Thud.

England ousted Mexico 3-2, the U.S. got rolled by Belgium in a match that looked one-sided from the outset and Canada was outclassed in a 3-0 loss to Morocco. Combined numbers from that trio of matches: 0-3-0 record, outscored by seven goals.

“Levels,” French soccer legend Thierry Henry said in his role as an analyst on Fox after the U.S. defeat. “The World Cup is different in the group stage. Round of 32 never existed before. Everyone made history in the round of 32. It never existed before … Unfortunately, one host, two hosts, three hosts, out. That’s exactly what you don’t want at a World Cup. That is annoying for me.”

If it annoys Henry, imagine how it feels for the Canadians, Mexicans and Americans.

There hasn’t been a CONCACAF — the Confederation of North, Central America and Caribbean Association Football — team in the World Cup quarterfinals since Costa Rica in 2014.

Before that, it was the U.S. in 2002 in its best showing at the World Cup since finishing third in 1930. Canada has never been past the round of 16. Mexico has played in each of the last nine World Cups; it reached the round of 16 in eight of those, never going further in that span.

“Everyone gave everything,” Mexico midfielder Erik Lira said. “But, in the end, it wasn’t enough.”

That seems to be an every-four-years refrain for every place other than Europe and South America.

There was some diversity in the makeup of the 2002 World Cup quarterfinal field with five confederations — Europe, South America, Asia, Africa and North America — all represented that year.

It was a rare blip. Of the 48 available quarterfinal spots over the six World Cups since, Europe has claimed 30, South America 14, Africa three and North America one.

Morocco is carrying Africa's hopes now and that continent came out of the group stage looking poised for a breakthrough. It sent 10 teams to the tournament; nine made it into the round of 32.

And then, most of the teams saw their hopes end by surrendering late goals.

Ivory Coast, South Africa and Congo all surrendered decisive goals in the 86th minute or later of what became their exits from the knockout phase. Cape Verde's magical ride ended after giving up an own goal to Lionel Messi and defending champion Argentina in the 111th minute. And for Senegal and Egypt, the endings were particularly harsh — both led 2-0 late in the second half, then fell by 3-2 scores to Belgium and Argentina, respectively.

Egypt felt the match was stolen by officiating decisions.

“Perhaps they wanted to keep the world champion in the competition," Egypt coach Hossam Hassan said. “Perhaps they wanted Messi to stay in the competition.”

The counterpoint to that was how, once again, a powerhouse like Argentina found a way. For the fifth time in the last six World Cups, Messi's team is in the quarterfinals.

Some things just don't seem to change.

“It wasn’t easy to come back from a 2-0 deficit in a World Cup knockout match — especially given how games are going these days, where no one gives you anything for free,” Messi said. “But thank God, we did it once again.”

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See more of AP’s World Cup coverage here

Khris Middleton is being traded back to the Washington Wizards on a partially guaranteed, three-year deal that could be worth as much as $17.6 million, a person with knowledge of the agreement said Tuesday night.

Middleton agreed to a sign-and-trade deal with the Dallas Mavericks, who are sending him to the Wizards, said the person, who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because the league had yet to give the moves the necessary approvals.

ESPN reported the deal would be folded into other pending agreements and become part of a six-team, 11-player trade that sends D'Angelo Russell from Washington to Memphis as well as Caris LeVert from Detroit to Milwaukee in exchange for Taurean Prince and Gary Harris. The Los Angeles Clippers also are part of the massive deal, with their plan to send John Collins to Detroit included in the arrangement.

Middleton is a three-time All-Star who was traded by the Wizards to Dallas in February. The forward, who turns 35 next month, averaged 10.2 points in 63 games between Washington and the Mavericks this past season.

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MIAMI (AP) — Giannis Antetokounmpo plans to say hello to Miami in a few days. First, he had to bid farewell to Milwaukee.

Antetokounmpo's time with the Bucks officially ended Monday, when the trade sending him and Bobby Portis to the Heat for Tyler Herro, Jaime Jaquez Jr., Kel'el Ware, Kasparas Jakucionis and draft capital was approved by the NBA.

Antetokounmpo plans to arrive in Miami in a few days to start his Heat era — and said in a video message posted Monday on social media that he will forever think of Milwaukee, the place where he spent 13 seasons, as his city.

“I want you to hear from my mouth, the city of Milwaukee will always be in my heart,” Antetokounmpo, a two-time NBA Most Valuable Player and 10-time All-Star, said in the video. "This is my home, and this is a place that I had my kids. ... It made me the man that I am today. That will never ever change. No matter where I am, Milwaukee will always be my city, my team, my family.”

His run in Milwaukee ended with 21,531 points — by far the most in franchise history, more than 7,000 ahead of Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s total during his tenure with the Bucks. Antetokounmpo is also Milwaukee’s all-time leader in rebounds and assists, plus he ranks second on the team’s career list in steals.

And now, he plays in Miami — a team desperate to get back into title contention, one that paid a ransom to make it happen.

“The announcement of today’s trade for Giannis Antetokounmpo and Bobby Portis Jr. is one of the great trades in Heat history,” Miami President Pat Riley said. “In my opinion, Giannis is one of the top five players in the league and Bobby is one of the best power forwards. The difficult part is trading Tyler, Kasparas, Jaime and Kel’el, who have given so much to this organization. We wish them nothing but the best."

Bucks general manager Jon Horst released a statement saying the trade was in the best interest of everyone involved.

He also lauded Antetokounmpo, as would be expected.

“Since we drafted him in 2013, Giannis has transformed the Milwaukee Bucks in every way — on the court, in our locker room and throughout the community,” Horst said. “Over 13 seasons, he became an extraordinary leader, teammate and representative of this city, and one of the defining players of his generation. The standard he set will continue here.”

The highlight of Antetokounmpo's 13 seasons in Milwaukee, of course, was the 2021 NBA title. He had 50 points in the Bucks' title-clinching Game 6 victory over Phoenix, earning NBA Finals MVP honors in a landslide.

Antetokounmpo said then, and reiterated Monday, that Bucks fans deserved that moment.

“I believe the city of Milwaukee is blue collar,” he said in the video. "It’s people that work extremely hard every single day. They give all their hard-earned money just to come watch the Milwaukee Bucks, to come and feel something, to come, to be a part of us.

“I hope that I was able to represent them the best that I could. And I was like them. I showed up to work, did everything. I was willing to do all the dirty work, just like them. I hope that bringing a trophy to this city meant something to them, because it meant so much to me.”

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AP Sports Writer Steve Megargee in Milwaukee contributed to this report.

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AP NBA: https://apnews.com/nba