Because the USA is sick of FIFA's corruption, especially after the Qatar 2022 fiasco. And so are some of the big Asian nations, such as Japan, Korea, and Australia. If those four nations + UEFA leave FIFA and organize an alternative tournament to compete with Qatar 2022, FIFA would be in a heap of trouble. Because a Qatar 2022 tournament featuring South America, Africa, and a bunch of second-tier nations from Asia and CONCACAF isn't going to pull in enough sponsorship money to keep FIFA afloat financially.
Are you trying to tell me that European club soccer is going to be more popular than international soccer? That's a very European point of view. International soccer is so much bigger. You wouldn't believe all the band wagon fans I've met over the past few weeks that don't know club soccer even exists.
It already is. EPL alone is worth more than the WC. The combined revenues from PL clubs is already 4 billion the same as FIFA did in 2014 Sure per game the WC is worth more but this is a one in 4 years event
And after the WC, they will not be back to football until the next WC. Club football is a year-around thing.
Right, but they will be back, and in greater numbers every time. So why would sponsors not want to be associated with the World Cup, that can bring in a larger number of fans?
it will a huge pile of mess and the clubs will also get involved too because all players in the world are FIFA players. In order to go to clubs you need a FIFA permit. Then the sponsors who overlap and they overlap a lot between clubs and the WC will have a say. No Blatter won't take spots from Europe. if he does something is give extra spots to the ROTW by expanding the WC to 40 an ideea Blatter has entertained because UEFA member balked at his initial proposal
A large number of fleeting fans. And who knows whether that number is worth it. Club football is based on millions of dedicated fans.
I don't think it really matters to the sponsors if they're fleeting. Olympics is full of fleeting fans, yet they get big bucks too. As long as international soccer is based on a national team, you're going to get a whole lot more people watching.
If you have a store you want a store that does great businees one time every 4 years or one that does good bussines every year long? CL transformed the whole game all over the world. It firstly elevated the European top teams and then by association the rest Club football is already bigger than national football. The WC is huge and you can tell how huge it is because the Euro alone is more viewed than the Olympics. The main cheese is with the clubs and most of these clubs are European. And if you are not still convinced compare how much money nike and adidas give to clubs compared to national teams.
Not saying they definitely won't. My point is just that international football has lost a good bit of its popularity in the traditional European power countries while club football has exploded in popularity in recent years. It's a trend that could well increase in the future. Once upon a time the World cup used to be the big spectacle where the real football was played. Club teams paled in comparison to great international sides. Now it's the other way around. And yet Fifa think they just sit on a golden goose that will endlessly lay golden eggs no matter what they do with it. They think that a competition where big Euro countries do poorly and Costa Rica and Algeria do well in will always be a global smash hit that Nike and adidas just endlessly love to invest Billions in. The Champions League has exploded in popularity precisely because the format and participation field is very carefully thought through with the right balance between inclusiveness and sporting excellence. The football there, even in early rounds is of an extremely high standard that no team at this WC can reach. So if people rally believe that it doesn't matter one bit to the continued success of the WC if England, Spain or Italy participate and do well in or if Panama, Uzbekistan and North Korea play in it then you're deluding yourselves.
I actually believe that the US would benefit from such a move. Sure they may miss out on a WC here and there, but I think it would make them much more competitive and possibly take them to that next level.
Why CAF over AFC ? CAF has never failed to send someone to the knockouts. AFC was blanked in 2006 and looks set to be blanked again in 2014.
That's one cycle your now quoting. African NT fail to advance for a number of reason tactics, disunity, poor managing, corrupt federations, non-existent domestic league play, structurally/institutional inequalities. If all things were level and they are NOT African NT would certainly do as well as UEFA teams. Easy to qualify a lot of teams past group stage when you have 3 times as many spots, great youth player development, incredibly facilities, competitive and strong domestic leagues, competent national FA etc. Apples and Oranges.
But but but, what about Ukraine, Sweden, Turkey, and Serbia? They are 1000x better than a team like Costa Rica, Iran, and Algeria. This World Cup is going to be boring because teams from bad federations are going to be crushed by superior European teams. Why Africa get 5 spots? Why no European team? Why dis no like European cup? Why team like Costa Rica no score goal? Why Algeria qualify? Why groups unfair for strong European teams?
Yea i never wanna hear Euros > World cup lmfao Euros finalist both knocked out in the group stages Hell all 3/4 semi finalist are probably gonna get KO'd in the group stage Spain, Italy, Portugal.
Groups of Death! The title was never more appropriate. I think this WC shows it's about time Europe thinks about the 90 games a season trend of the big Clubs
8 UEFA teams will most likely miss the KO rounds Croatia, Spain, Greece, Italy, England, Bosnia, Portugal, Russia... Such a strong confederation!!!
Whatever may be the case, all of you are using such a small sample size. Europe can easily turn it around and dominate the next World Cup in Russia. Too many people are concerned about the quality of the teams in this World Cup. People kept on discussing how group draws were unfair and why certain teams qualified over others. It really takes the enjoyment out of such a tournament when you're more concerned about which teams participate rather than the games themselves. The semi-finalists could easily be Belgium, France, Germany, and Holland, who knows? I personally don't want the continental allotments to change and I'm hoping for an equally entertaining World Cup in 2018.
UEFA has been in the last 5 world cup finals, just saying. Actually the last time UEFA was not in a final was back in 1950(!) so why the ******** are you trolling for? Your arguement hold no water. one bad world cup does not erase all history UEFA done good. If it was like that then no african, asian or central american teams would ever participate.
Reading some of the posts here one would think that the only goal for most here is to knock out Europeans. Where does this stupid and irrational hatred come from? I'm glad you have something to cheer about, it's great to see a small country like Uruguay have some success.
apparently some americans have inferior complex now when US are doing good and some trolls are joining their bandwagon of UEFA hatred. They're not real soccer fans.
Not possible, I believe there is a purely South American path to the semis with Brazil, Colombia, Chile and Uruguay on the same path