Here in the Netherlands there is definitely some merit to those matchup stats, culturewise. For instance, some teams are relegation level one week yet always give it their all when Ajax shows up, and are fine with their season regardless of what happens as long as they beat Ajax at home. Others roll over and look like they're just waiting 90 minutes to swap shirts. Seems to have more to do with their fanbase than their current managers or even players.
I always appreciated "the WC host nation never gets knocked out in the group stage", that we heard a lot in 2010