FIFA: World Cup to increase to 48 teams in 2026

antijoke · 10 Jan 2017 at 11:50

Pretty awful decision for me, that's too many teams. You know there will be an influx of crap teams now too, and I bet they still beat England in the qualifying stages.

I'm sure money had nothing to do with the decision at all.

Source

MooMoo444 · 10 Jan 2017 at 11:54

Qualifying seems almost pointless when there's so many teams involved in the tournament.

Ree · 10 Jan 2017 at 11:57

we'll(scotland) still not qualify lol

Robbo · 10 Jan 2017 at 11:58

I suppose the smaller/poorer teams will be happy, but what a joke. It's a money spinner, as per usual with FIFA - embarrassment of an organisation.

Maundie · 10 Jan 2017 at 12:15

There will be some terrible games now, FIFA are desperately trying to cling onto being relevant (a bit like the FA).

bayo000 · 10 Jan 2017 at 12:22

Bit silly though I don't really have a problem with that. Chance to get some points with gf if anything. Two crap teams playing - I'll tell her even though there's a game on TV I'll spend time with her.

Then she won't moan later when I want to watch a proper match.

The best teams will still get to later stages and more fans around the world will have a chance to see their teams play against the top teams. For example India, I bet they would love to see their national team play against the likes of Germany, Brazil etc.

Lemin · 10 Jan 2017 at 15:35

3 team groups is stupid ! Expect many new versions of The Disgrace of Gijón.

Judge Mental · 10 Jan 2017 at 16:25

ree said:
we'll(scotland) still not qualify lol

Even if there were no qualifying we still wouldn't manage it.

McBain · 10 Jan 2017 at 16:57

FIFA once again proving what a bunch of clowns they are.

Nate75 · 10 Jan 2017 at 17:25

Pretty sure I heard on the BBC news this morning that this will generate FIFA and extra 500 mil...

Tombstone · 10 Jan 2017 at 17:31

To be honest, its not the 48 teams that bothers me, its that each group will consist of only 3 teams. 3 team groups where the top 2 go through, what the hell is the point of that??

cheesyboy · 10 Jan 2017 at 18:04

Nate75 said:
Pretty sure I heard on the BBC news this morning that this will generate FIFA and extra 500 mil...

Cooking the golden goose.

Tombstone · 11 Jan 2017 at 06:57

I also read today that on top of this they are now suggesting that instead of having 1 host country it could well be jointly hosted by 3 countries (US, Canada and Mexico) with a couple thousand miles distance between them. Which smacks again of attempting to gain revenue from more than one location.

mmj_uk · 12 Jan 2017 at 15:57

At least we'll get out of the group stages.

It's just a money thing as usual, more matches, more viewers, more advertising income. ££££

el_dazza · 13 Jan 2017 at 08:44

So we'll end up with less than elite sides in it, such as Uzbekistan, UAE, Oman, etc. All that would otherwise have no hope of getting through.

To me the world cup should be about top level competition, not 'oh let's let everyone have a crack' - that's what qualifying is for. If you're not good enough, you don't deserve to be a part of it.

HangTime · 26 Feb 2017 at 21:15

Lemin said:
3 team groups is stupid ! Expect many new versions of The Disgrace of Gijón.

Agreed it's an absolute disgrace as it will give a disadvantage to whatever team isn't involved in the final group match. 48 teams is bad enough but I had assumed it would be 4 teams per group still like when the WC had 24 teams (which was still a bit naff, having some 3rd place teams qualify but not all).

I think it's more like to go the way of Sweden-Denmark i.e. If you have a group where the first two games are drawn the third game then becomes a case of ensuring a high scoring draw for both teams to qualify. If you are the team that has to play the first two matches, if you draw game 1 then basically that means you MUST win game two, a draw is useless because the other teams can just fix the final match to ensure you are eliminated.

Even with seedlings for groups so you could get whipping boys you'll end up with silly situations like:

A 3-0 B
A 1-1 C

Then team C plays team B and knows beforehand exactly what score they need to win by to top the group.