FIFA International Match Calendar: Proposed Changes & General Discussion

@Nico Limmat complains that Concacaf and CAF have tournaments every two years instead of every four. Here's something he won't like. https://www.fifa.com/about-fifa/who...o-discusses-ideas-for-global-football-in-doha says French Football Federation president Noël Le Graët wants the Women's World Cup to be played every two years, which Infantino wants to discuss.

 

Would probably be better off having a smaller-scale annual event if they want to hold such a tournament. Women’s club football is barely marketable.

 

Had to look it up myself now that you asked. Apart from UEFA and CONMEBOL, only AFC actually appears to have a women’s club championship, which started just this year actually with four clubs from Japan, China, S. Korea, and Australia. Surprised there wasn’t North Korean participation as they are quite good in the women’s game.

 

FIFA should put together a Women's World Cup for futsal and beach soccer. Both sports would be a better fit in the Olympics than the U23 tournament. From my understanding, the lack of an international women's competition in either sport has prevented their inclusion in the Olympics.

 

I don't watch futsal or beach soccer, and I have no idea what percent of worldwide players in those sports are women compared to soccer, but I wouldn't complain about FIFA making the same amount of tournaments for each gender.

 

This has always seemed like a no-brainer to me. After winning multiple youth World Cups, Mexico has been too talented to not get past the first knockout stage of the last seven World Cups. It should be obvious that playing Gold Cups and CONCACAF WCQs just haven't prepared them enough to face the world's best. Friendlies can't make up for competitive game environments either. A Copa Continental with 24 teams (10 CONMEBOL/14 CONCACAF) would be a smart move.

 

sorry but I dont buy this argument at all.

If playing in concacaf is good enough for them to qualify for the 2nd round in more WC's than virtually every team not named Brazil, then that certainly isn't the reason why they cannot make the WC quarters.

Before the last WC other than Brazil, Germany and Mexico off the top of my head are the most common teams in the knockout rounds, and last WC Mexico beat out Germany. So concacaf cannot be a hinderance to them if they can be that consistently good on one level.

I would say it is more likely they have a problem mentally or dealing with the pressure of knockout situations. It could just be bad luck of getting tough 2nd round opponents. THey haven't had much luck in that regard. Look at their 2nd round opponents

2018 Brazil
2014 Holland
2010 Argentina
2006 Argentina
2002 USA
1998 Germany

thats not very good luck for 2nd round opponents. Nothing but former WC champions with the only year they really should have won being 2002 against a US team that knows them in and out.

So I think the real reason Mexico hasn't made the quarters more often is simply bad LUCK of drawing horrible matchups.

I bet if they went up against a weaker side they would likely win.

 

You don't often get a weak team in the last 16 but I take your point.

 

Well they got those opponents by finishing second in their group. In the years that they topped their group (1994 and 2002) they were matched up against Bulgaria and the USA. They also gave up at least two goals in every Round of 16 game except for 1994. For some reason, at U17 level they don't have problems beating the teams you mentioned or keeping them from scoring. When they won the 2005 U17 WC, they beat Netherlands (SF) and Brazil (F), both shutouts. When they won the 2011 U17 WC, they beat France (QF), Germany (SF), and Uruguay (F-shutout). When they finished second at the 2013 U17 WC, they beat Italy (R16-shutout), Brazil (QF), and Argentina (SF-shutout). They also finished second at the 2019 U17 WC, beating Netherlands in the SF, and losing to Brazil in the Finals.

So if you don't buy that argument, what's your take on why the dominance at youth level hasn't translated into success at senior level? Why do they have a record number of Gold Cups but when they play a combined tournament with South American teams they get knocked out at the QF stage by a 7-0 scoreline?

 

This is it really. They benefit from being a good team in a weak federation which means they are seeded above their level for the group stage. So they do well enough at the easier opponents they are given but fail to beat the better ones meaning they end up second in the group and then go out against a strong opponent in the last 16. They're stuck in the middle ground, too good for their federation but not good enough too competet with the top teams at the WC.

Sure the mental side also plays a part in it (they have lost 8 straight knock-out games after all) but that comes from not playing any high class opponents in their federation.
So I do think that having more regular matches against CONMEBOL teams could help quite a bit.


Of course the part that I think both of you have missed is the fact that stepping up to senior football isn't just a small step forward. Most of the time it's a great big step up that not all make. So where does the Mexican youth players play? And where do they play when they get older? MX? MLS? Europe? It might just be that the players, as individuals, doesn't make the step up and then the national team never will either.

 

you cannot compare youth football to senior football.

African teams have also dominated youth football, much more so than Mexico, and it hasn't really translated for them either.

Mexico is a very good an consistent side, but they aren't better than the teams they failed to beat in the 2nd round with the possible exception of the US in 2002.

You cannot use one aberration 7-0 loss to prove anything. What about when Brazil was beaten 9-1 by Germany in their own backyard. These kind of results can happen to any team.

There is nothing to see here other than the fact that Mexico has regularly (by bad luck) come up against some of the best teams in the world in their 2nd round match.

and plenty of teams have finished 2nd in their group and come up against far more managable opposition than Mexico seems to get in the knockout rounds.

 

None of them really applied to Costa Rica though.

Nothing is certain of course but if their main problem is that they have a hard time beating top class opponents then playing more often against such opponents can't be a bad thing.

 

Costa Rica played Greece.

Mexico has played nothing but ex champs.

It's not any more complicated than that.

 

its likely that CAF and FIFA consulted together on this matter.

FIFA are the ones who back and mandate the release of players for AFCON during the club season. They also would not have liked the conflict between AFCON and their new clubworld cup, so I think FIFA backed this decision. Just my opinion.