The Asian teams are the only ones that would be bad in my book. Plus a team like Russia will probably not qualify in 2022 so that is 3 UEFA teams that would add to quality the tournament.
Infantino likes the Expansion idea (Money Money Money). It may take a co-host like Kuwait to help out though:: http://www.espn.com/soccer/fifa-wor...-fifa-to-expand-world-cup-to-48-teams-in-2022
Yea i read that! http://soccer.nbcsports.com/2018/04/12/what-would-expanded-world-cup-format-look-like-in-2018/
Fair point about there being 3 more UEFA teams, but you don't think CONCACAF will supply weak teams? The next best team after the US is T&T. Then probably Guatemala and Canada/Haiti(?). NZ (who would probably qualify for every 48-team WC) is also considerably worse than Australia. When they were in the same confederation, NZ never came close to winning OFC and advancing to the inter-confederation playoff. And Australia themselves are barely among the top 32.
Actually, they did once. 1982. The Kiwis drew in New Zealand and beat Australia away, winning the OFC qualifying group by four points. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1982_FIFA_World_Cup_qualification_(AFC_and_OFC)#Final_Round_Play-off
That '82 New Zealand team is probably their best ever. Their 'Golden Generation'. Before the '82 draw many pundits felt New Zealand had a good shot of reaching the second round group phase. But after being drawn into the 'Group of Death' with Scotland, USSR and Brazil many felt hard luck for the Kiwis. The general sentiment was, "Any other group, they would have had a good chance. But not this group."
That things have changed since 1982. Right now the top team in OFC kinda sucks (thus giving them an automatic spot in the WC weakens the field).
Also Australia comfortably accounted for Honduras who finished above the CONCACAF teams you mentioned. Lets face it, its a no brainer that if you expand the competition by 24 teams that most of those teams wont be as good as the teams that qualified ahead of them, and CONCACAF drops off in quality quicker than any confederation with the exception of OFC.
I totally agree with that. OFC (essentially a one team confederation) should not be getting a confirmed berth. But they shouldn't have to play off against a CONMEBOL side either, which has mostly been the case recently. If CONCACAF is going to get to six berths in a 48 team field, their bottom team of the six should be in a playoff against the OFC champ. That's how I would deal with OFC. Don't make it an "automatic" qualification for New Zealand, but OTOH, don't also make it all but impossible.
Any confederation? The AFC's right there with Concacaf - hell, Qatar managed to lose at home to the likes of Haiti and Curaçao.
No way Qatar 2022 should be expanded. And Kuwait? They are the only dry GCC country next to Saudi Arabia. Oman would be a better choice from the "non-blockade" countries.
We Don't play CONCACAF sides often in competition but we played their 4th team based on their Hex results recently. They were only about as strong as Thailand and Iraq (teams we also played home and away recently. I reckon that's a pretty quick drop off and faster than Asia ie 4th team CONCACAF equivalent to 8-10 in Asia. It's only an opinion, but its based on comparing teams I've watched my national team play in competitive matches in the last year.
I have a feeling that if expansion occurs in Qatar a majority of the extra teams added would be competitive (That is all I ask for really. ) The main two reasons being: 1) We saw what happened the first time the World Cup was held in Asia. Crazy things happened and upsets galore occurred throughout the tournament. 2) We saw what happened with recent Euro expansion There were added teams that the general soccer fan population thought would not be competitive that got points against traditional powers. To the point where people in this very thread thought the matches were boring with the 0-0 and 1-0 type of competitive matches that were played. (You can't have it both ways and say the teams are going to get killed due to poor diluted quality and then say the games were boring when they are close.)
Well, growing up in the CONCACAF region and watching a lot of Gold Cup matches over the last three decade kind of made me used to it. IT is not my favorite type of Group setup but it is not really making me angry either. There was only one time there was an issue when Canada and South Korea advancing had to be determined by the drawing of lots which was strange (and I felt sorry for Korea) but rules are rules. The good news about the World Cup though is there is less of a chance of drawing of lots if the proposed shootout system is implemented at the end of matches. Gold Cup did not have that.
Why 48 teams could be bad news for Qatar https://www.independent.co.uk/sport...d-news-saudi-arabia-kuwait-iran-a8303706.html
But if it was voted for 32 teams and i dont think Qatar want to have 48 teams. Imposssible... Its time for Fifa now to bribe Qatar
The CONMEBOL wants to have more teams. I am sure Africa won't mind having more teams either. If they vote on it I think it would pass.
There will be some very weak CONCACAF and AFC teams at future World Cups. Even the best teams in those regions aren't very special.
Good luck finding anyone who believes that Honduras are stronger than the US - fair play to them for finishing above us on points, though. And yes, I'd agree that AFC's 4th- and 5th-best sides are better than Concacaf's, but then you guys face a huge drop-off as well...unless you have a higher opinion of the likes of Bahrein, Qatar and China (all of whom have struggled against Caribbean sides).
Those pesky things called results tend to mess up the true order of things. If peoples opinions were what decided world cup qualification we would never have had to go through two playoffs to get there as everyone knows we are better than Saudi Arabia. I have been impressed with the improvement that some of the 6-10 sides have made so whilst the drop off is definitely there, it isn't as bad as it was. It's at the top end that our confederation needs to improve a bit. Hopefully this world cup will show some improvement, but you never really know until the games are played.[/QUOTE]