I don't really see the point of hitting all corners of the world in one World Cup. There will be another WC 4 years after that. And 4 years after that. Do you also eat breakfast, lunch, and dinner all at once?
I think Saudi would have to phone a friend to take on a 64 team tournament. UAE would probably love to get in on that.
100% now https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/infantino-enthused-idea-64-team-170331723.html Even if I hate the idea 64 still is better than 48
64 will be awesome. Although there will have to be simultaneously kickoffs like in champions league. That is what PIP or even an NFL style whip around show like Redzone can be used for. Take us to each match and show us the goals or near misses.
We've seen a steady move towards staggered kickoff times even in club football over the past 20 years, so I think at most there will be 2 matches with simultaneous kickoffs - and only during the group stage. Or you can have kickoffs separated by just 2 hours with no overlap at all. Its not necessary, imo, to have 1-2 hours gap between group stage matches when there is no chance of extra time.
TV Networks use the gaps for pregame conversations, analysis and behind the scenes stories. And of course ADVERTISING. So I don’t really see that going away soon.
They can still do that anyway without the 1-2 hours between each game. We see it in club football every weekend and Champions League now too. What's more important to the networks is that they can devote more time to showing live matches, and that will get cut down if you run a lot of matches simultaneously. You can run more advertising if you are showing matches from noon to midnight than just 5pm to 11pm.
After this WC - and especially after the Balogun case - FIFA's reputation in the West is in the gutter and so we can't rely on embarrassing them with how ridiculous an idea a 64-team WC is because they've reached virtually the lowest point in terms of reputation anyway. For evidence of how ridiculous it is, the only rationale for it given so far by the Conmebol president is that - to celebrate the centenary of the WC - "you can't leave anyone out of the party." Yes, he actually said that! While it's true that expanding the WC still further is likely to be welcomed across the global south, UEFA has been building a lot of soft political power there in recent years and I think it's precisely with these kind of developments in mind. Now they have sufficiently strong relationships with other confederations that their representatives on the FIFA Council wouldn't vote in favour of something which Europe - UEFA, national associations and leagues together - so strongly opposes and which would in any case be detrimental to world football. It's noteworthy that all of the worst performing teams came from the global south: Haiti, Iraq, Jordan, Panama, Tunisia and Uzbekistan, none of which collected a single point. Adding a further 16 teams of that calibre is completely ridiculous. Whatever Infantino says, we can be confident that this expansion won't happen.
All FIFA has to say is that it makes the brackets cleaner. Top 2 from each group goes to the round of 32. No more controversial rankings of third places. Then that may convince most confederations.
UEFA has a lot of say in things that are more tenuous, obviously CWC, confederations cup, competitions pertaining only to UEFA teams, laws of the game and overall fixture congestion especially when Infantino tried to push a 2 year world cup... but when it comes to the actual 4-year world cup IMO they are more or less powerless. It's the one competition they can't exactly pack their bags and say "we aren't going" - its own members would revolt. FIFA holds all the cards and its other association voting blocks (AFC, CAF, CONCACAF) are absolutely massive. There's nothing UEFA could actually do to stop a 64 team world cup. Those three confederations obviously want a 64 one because it means their teams get to be part of it. China and UAE, Nigeria and Cameroon, Jamaica and Costa Rica... I mean they all could've potentially been part of a 64 team cup. Italy would finally have made it as will big teams like Denmark, Wales and Slovakia so UEFA isn't left empty. Venezuela would finally have debuted. It's a hard call because I HATE the third place team rule and how stupid it was that teams were waiting to see who were in or out in the last few match days from groups *completely out of their control, but 48 teams was really, really was scraping the very bottom of the barrel for a World Cup caliber competition. 32 was ideal, but between 48 and 64 I think the pros and cons kind of balance each other out. If 64 means we go back to top 2 teams advancing again like the old format... I can be ok with it. If there was somehow some guarantee I will not live long enough to see it expanded again because that would be complete nonsense.
You can improve the format by using the Swiss model, you don't need to increase straight to 64 teams. AFC would surely be embarrassed to receive more places after its poor showing this year (not that I think they should lose places because I would hope they'll improve by 2030). I wouldn't underestimate UEFA's influence to recruit others to block this proposal. They've been working for years to ensure these kind of ideas never reach the point where they're put to a vote.
I wonder if certain member nations will think up a plan to prevent future embarrassment. For example, could there be a government (or FA) plan to have their nationals born - or at least mostly raised - in the countries of the Top Five European leagues, be developed in those European environments, and then “recall” their diaspora to represent them in the World Cup? Such a plan wouldn’t necessarily be limited to AFC. In this World Cup, it seems CAF has sort of done this, but through happenstance, rather than a clear decade(s) long thought out plan.
Yep. 8 groups of six. Yeah, I would give them one more chance before reassessing how many teams each region should get. Similarly for CAF - yes, they had a great WC but let's see if they can sustain for 2 WCs before we think they have so many good teams and increase their allocation.