News: Club World Cup to Expand; Confederations Cup to End

Discussion in 'FIFA and Tournaments' started by Nico Limmat, Sep 9, 2016.

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  1. BocaFan

    BocaFan Member+

    Aug 18, 2003
    Queens, NY
    Might be the first time I see someone say they like friendlies.

    In any case, lots of details to be ironed out. But I'm guessing the global NL won't get rid of inter-confederation friendlies, just like the UEFA Nations League doesn't.
     
  2. HomietheClown

    HomietheClown Member+

    Dusselheim FC 1971
    Sep 4, 2010
    Club:
    --other--
    More stoking of the rumor flame:

    http://gulfnews.com/sport/football/more-football/club-world-cup-expanding-to-24-1.2137053

    "Europe (Uefa) would be allocated 12 of the 24 berths, making it the largest confederation represented. South America (Conmebol) would get five slots, and Asia (AFC), Africa (Caf) and North America (Concacaf) would all get two, while Oceania (OFC) gets just one.
    The last four Uefa Champions League winners would qualify along with the last four finalists, or by being a team with the best coefficient. Similar systems would be in place for the other confederations but have not been confirmed yet.
    The tournament would be divided into eight groups of three, with the first place finishers in each progressing to a quarter-final."
     
  3. BocaFan

    BocaFan Member+

    Aug 18, 2003
    Queens, NY
    So if they had one last summer, the UEFA qualifiers would look something like this:
    Real Madrid
    Barca
    Atletico Madrid
    Juventus
    Bayern
    Dortmund
    PSG
    Sevilla
    Benfica
    Chelsea
    Arsenal
    Spartak Moscow (hosts)

    A bit watered down, I'd say. And those are the best 12 teams in the tournament.

    If your team is having a poor season, you just want it to end. Can't imagine these poor players and fans having to endure another 3-week tournament after a long, bad season. Brutal!

    If I was UEFA or a UEFA club I would boycott or send a reserve squad.

    Also this just wouldn't sell in Europe, so anytime the WC host is a UEFA country the CWC would be a total fail!

    Fortunately I don't see this ever becoming reality. At worse it will happen, but it would take place in late-July to mid-August and essentially replace the Intercontinental Champions Cup, or whatever its called, and be co-hosted by U.S. and China. That would actually sell way more tickets than the above proposal.
     
  4. HomietheClown

    HomietheClown Member+

    Dusselheim FC 1971
    Sep 4, 2010
    Club:
    --other--
    I can see teams committing to this because it will only be held once every four years.

    And I think the Euro clubs will happy if the annual 6 team format is scrapped for this sorta thing.
     
  5. BocaFan

    BocaFan Member+

    Aug 18, 2003
    Queens, NY
    ^ Yeah, maybe but at least the current CWC is in mid-season, not the middle of the off-season.

    Anyway, for the tournament to be completed in 20 days, teams would only get 2 days rest b/w matches. Seems like 20 days is a bit of a stretch (lie).
     
  6. HomietheClown

    HomietheClown Member+

    Dusselheim FC 1971
    Sep 4, 2010
    Club:
    --other--
    The deeper squads would benefit most from that. Real Madrid could probably send their Youth squad and still beat the Oceania champion in game one. Then wake up the Senior team for the second game of the three team Group.
     
  7. Paul Calixte

    Paul Calixte Moderator
    Staff Member

    Orlando City SC
    Apr 30, 2009
    Miami, FL
    Club:
    Orlando City SC
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Doesn't look to be reporting anything new, other than that the proposal is still on the table. I have a hard time believe the other confederations would sign off on such a distribution - if I'm CONCACAF, the AFC or CAF, I'm insisting on at least four berths so that all my CL winners over that four-year period get in.
     
    punintended_13 repped this.
  8. BocaFan

    BocaFan Member+

    Aug 18, 2003
    Queens, NY
    That seems logical. 5 confederations * 4 champions + one OFC team + defending CWC champion + most-recent domestic champions of host nations . That gives you 24 if there are two host nations. If there are more than 2 then I guess you could scratch the CWC champion and have 3 'host' teams.

    CL Finalists would qualify if there are repeated champions.
     
  9. It's called FOOTBALL

    LMX Clubs
    Mexico
    May 4, 2009
    Chitown
    There's nothing logical about this, even with a more balanced berth allocation. If I'm CONCACAF, the AFC or CAF, I tell them hell to the no on any of this. This idea ruins the whole concept of a world club champion.

    Hopefully cooler heads prevail, and this gets tossed into the "what the hell were we thinking" pile. New Coke thinks this is a bad idea.
     
    unclesox repped this.
  10. BocaFan

    BocaFan Member+

    Aug 18, 2003
    Queens, NY
    Its the same format as the World Cup.
     
  11. dinamo_zagreb

    dinamo_zagreb Member+

    Jun 27, 2010
    San Jose, CA / Zagreb, Croatia
    Club:
    --other--
    Nat'l Team:
    Croatia
    So they are really planing to go with this. What is it with FIFA moving to 3-team groups? What are those guys smoking lately, I want it too.

    There was never talk about 3-team groups, or I don't remember it and I've been following FIFA for ages now. It's the least attractive format of the competition, it doesn't make any sense to have bye days... but Gianni takes over (FIFA) and everything goes crazy. It's like the main principle of his reign. 3-fu*king-team group. Let's apply it to every existing competition. If it is impossible, let's start new competition.

    Suggested way of qualification is funny too. Team that qualifies four years in advance could be relegated from their national league by time they have to play as continental champion. :ROFLMAO: Just one of flaws.

    Sad days for world of football with those clowns in Zurich headquarters.
     
  12. EvanJ

    EvanJ Member+

    Manchester United
    United States
    Mar 30, 2004
    Club:
    Manchester United FC
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    With only the group winners advancing, it would make a big difference for the top UEFA clubs whether their group had another UEFA club (if 12 out of 24 were from UEFA). Do we want the group winner to be determined by a goal differential tiebreaker of how much the two UEFA clubs beat a club from another confederation by? Unlike this CWC proposal, the 48 team World Cups will advance two out of three, so having one win would be enough to advance if the team you beat doesn't win their other game.
     
  13. HomietheClown

    HomietheClown Member+

    Dusselheim FC 1971
    Sep 4, 2010
    Club:
    --other--
    Maybe they are thinking this is a way to make people used to a three team in a group setup and get used to penalthy shootouts as the tie breakers.

    So there would be no need to beat up on the lowest seed to advance in the group if there is always a head- to- head winner.
     
  14. BocaFan

    BocaFan Member+

    Aug 18, 2003
    Queens, NY
    Good point. With 8 groups its even dumber to have 12 teams from a single confederation. Surely the absolute maximum should be 8 - so one in each group.

    IMO, even 8 is too many. There would be a real risk of having 6 or 7 UEFA teams advance to the knockout stage, which would make it a farce and embarrassment.
     
    Paul Calixte repped this.
  15. BocaFan

    BocaFan Member+

    Aug 18, 2003
    Queens, NY
    lol

    I think the groups of 3 is a popular idea because the quality has been diluted to such an extent that they are worried fans will get bored if each team had to play 3 matches.

    IOW, basically an admission that their product isn’t very good. (yeah, kinda scary & sad)

    The only advantage I see with the bye in the Club WC is that it means the tournament can start the same weekend as the UEFA CL final. The UCL finalists could be guaranteed to get a bye on the first round of matches.
     
  16. Nico Limmat

    Nico Limmat Member+

    Oct 24, 1999
    Dubai, UAE
    Club:
    Grasshopper Club Zürich
    Nat'l Team:
    Switzerland
    Precisely. From a sporting perspective this is a terrible idea. Look for teams that are completely unrecognizable by the time they actually play in the CWC. Different form (division?) and different players. The only positive that I can think of is that fans will have plenty of time to plan their travel. That is currently not the case with the AFC and CAF Champions League as well as the Copa Libertadores ending in November.

    Still, the negatives far outweigh any positives. If we simply have to switch to a summer format then I would much prefer a biennial 16 team competition. But in order for that to happen not only does the Confederations Cup need to get axed, but the brakes have to be applied to overly frequent national team competitions in the Americas (Gold Cup and Copa Pan-Americana) as well as the African Nations Cup:

    1) World Cup
    2) Club World Cup
    3) Nations Cup in every Confederation
    4) Club World Cup

    Hard to see that happen, but if FIFA really wants to break into the club game it will have to tell the associations off for a change (and promise them more money derived from the new CWC)

    I guess the ultimate question is how much an expanded CWC would generate in terms of revenue. I'm sure the studies are being made as we speak. :rolleyes:
     
    dinamo_zagreb repped this.
  17. It's called FOOTBALL

    LMX Clubs
    Mexico
    May 4, 2009
    Chitown
    lol, but a completely different qualifying format. As has been said ad nauseum, it's absurd for some teams to have to wait 3 years to play, while others just weeks. Absolutely ridiculous.

    You're a Mets fan, imagine if the 2015 Mets had to wait till 2019 to play in the WS. They already suck now, imagine how sucky they'd be in 2019.

    Plus, including CL runners up is dumb too. If this SuperCWC was in addition to the annual CWC, then that's fine, it'd totally be an exhibition tourney for fun. But they're tryin to piss on 50+ years of history.
     
    dinamo_zagreb repped this.
  18. dinamo_zagreb

    dinamo_zagreb Member+

    Jun 27, 2010
    San Jose, CA / Zagreb, Croatia
    Club:
    --other--
    Nat'l Team:
    Croatia
    It is not diluted now, but will be with the expansions planned. Just stop expanding and there won't be dilution. :D



    In that case, that European team would win the UCL title in the biggest match of the year then would travel half the globe to play as soon as they land in China or India or California.

    I would play it every year in first half of August. Six continental champions, host nation champion, title holder. Basically guaranteed two European giants who are at the top of their game, each in one group. Group winners to final. It could be played in 12 days (A, B, rest, A, B, rest, A, B, rest, rest, rest, F). Those two Euro teams could skip 2-3 matches of their world-tour farce preseason as they would get big sum of money for winning the title. Win-win.

    If this what they propose goes through, we would technically have UCL replay week or two after it's over. I (and I am sure that I am not the only one) surely don't want to see it over and over again - in fact, I am sick of UCL and great spell of dominance by few same teams. Seeing those same shirts and crests at the world cup, especially playing each other (what is likely, four group-stage matchups, then most of knock-out matches), would force me to start hating this little cup. And I like it even with all flaws current format shows. :D
     
  19. NaBUru38

    NaBUru38 Member+

    Mar 8, 2016
    Las Canteras, Uruguay
    Club:
    Club Nacional de Football
    Why would Manchester, Milan, Boca, Flamengo or Corinthians fans care about the tournament?
     
  20. Paul Calixte

    Paul Calixte Moderator
    Staff Member

    Orlando City SC
    Apr 30, 2009
    Miami, FL
    Club:
    Orlando City SC
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Well, the South American teams you mention can't afford to thumb their noses at the Club World Cup (whatever the iteration), as it's their only chance to challenge the European elite for a world championship.

    As for Manchester (which one? :D ) and Milan, at the outset, they'd put the same importance on this tournament as they do with the current Club World Cup: a chance to win a trophy, lord it over their rivals and release new jerseys with that sweet "FIFA World Champion" badge.

    [​IMG]

    The big question is whether they'd consider the number of games to be worth it. The good news is that Europe (particularly the European Club Association and the DFB) is set to oppose this proposal tooth and nail.
     
  21. BocaFan

    BocaFan Member+

    Aug 18, 2003
    Queens, NY
    OTOH, I can see why FIFA wants to make a change. The current CWC just isn’t a big highlight on the football calendar. Yesterday were the quarterfinals for the WC for clubs and hardly anyone is talking about it, much less watching it.

    But yeah , you have a point - its pretty silly having champions from 3 years ago included, who may be crap by the time the CWC is played. Having a 12-team tournament every 2 years would solve that problem.
     
  22. It's called FOOTBALL

    LMX Clubs
    Mexico
    May 4, 2009
    Chitown
    I saw it talked about and trending worldwide on twitter. It's a highlight for non-Europe, which is bigger than Europe.

    lol, 2 years is still a gap. The Mets suck just 2 years after winning the pennant.

    No team should have to wait more than 8 months after qualifying. OFC should also move to a fall Final, CONCACAF was going to, but the u.s. league blocked it, so I heard. Which is ironic considering their fans always erroneously blame the schedule for their woes.

    https://www.mlssoccer.com/post/2015...ng-potential-champions-league-schedule-change

    As I've said 100 times (and probably will again 100x) they should just rename all CLs the "World Champions League" so fans can finally get it. Rename the UCL Final a WCL quarterfinal, the trophy would still be the CWC. This would increase ratings for the final stages.
     
    unclesox repped this.
  23. BocaFan

    BocaFan Member+

    Aug 18, 2003
    Queens, NY
    It wouldn’t be two years, just one. E.g. win CL at the end of season 1 and qualify for CWC at the end season 2, along with the CL winners from season 2.

    Changing the name won’t accomplish anything. As long as its competing with the Manchester derby, el clasico, etc. the tournament will remain limited.
     
  24. JLSA

    JLSA Member

    Nov 11, 2003
    When do you think they are playing it?

    J
     
  25. unclesox

    unclesox BigSoccer Supporter

    Mar 8, 2003
    209, California
    Club:
    FC Barcelona
    True, it's fall in the southern hemisphere when they play it.
    But I think he means fall in the northern hemisphere so that it's closer to when the CWC is played.
     
    It's called FOOTBALL repped this.

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