’48 Teams And Three Teams In Each Group’ – Gianni Infantino Keen To Make Ruining The World Cup His First Act As FIFA President

Chris Wright

8th, December 2016

7 Comments

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FIFA president Gianni Infantino has outlined his grand plan for the expansion of the World Cup and, as you may have guessed, it’s absolutely bloody ridiculous.

According to the AFP, Infantino – in all his boiled egg wisdom – has a hankering for a sprawling 48-team tournament featuring 16 groups of three teams…

As per Infantino’s outline, the top two teams in each group would then go through to a round of 32, after which the knockout rounds would continue as normal – albeit more swollen.

No decision is going to be made until the proposals are discussed by FIFA at a council meeting on 9th January, but BBC Sport are reporting that any changes to the format aren’t likely to come into effect until the 2026 World Cup at the earliest.

Of course, what the World Cup really needs to reestablish its dwindling prestige is the wheat re-separating from the chaff, i.e, fewer teams and higher quality control.

That said, there’s no new lucrative revenue streams to be mined that way, so we may as well forget it.

Posted in World Cup

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7 Comments

  1. Jacques says:

    “fewer teams and higher quality control”
    I think it would be unwise to assume that two good teams make a good game. There’s definitely something to be said for the minnows of the world. Often less turgid and tactically choked football
    The expansion of the Euros worked quite well i thought and while the plan outlined above is pretty poor i don’t think expanding the World Cup is an all round horrible plan…

  2. Jake says:

    Fuck me. Can we get Bell End back?

  3. Jeremia says:

    Doesn’t seem that bad an idea. Obviously, it would be more fair to have more group games, alas with more knock-out games it would be more exciting (though the bits between penalty shoot-outs could drag on). In the end though, it all comes down to how many spots in the finals will Europe get. Might not be the most popular view, but I wouldn’t mind the World Cup to be almost entirely a Euro-American affair.

  4. dave says:

    Why are pies so against expansion of the world cup?

    The quality of the so called bigger nations is nothing special so why not allow more nations and supporters to have a part and be able to enjoy the experience.

    Reeks of English arrogance.

    You’re against the Champions League being a closed shop but “fewer teams higher quality control” is the same thing no?

    At the last World Cup, higher quality control meant Costa Rica not England.

    • Murray says:

      So enjoy that same “higher quality control” you speak of at another 32-team World Cup, like the one you’re already talking about.

      If you’d be one of millions (or billions, if piss-poor national sides from China and India were to enter through a wider qualification pool) of TV viewers in 16 additional countries happy to see their home nation getting some attention, I’m sure that would be great for you. However, “more teams” does not automatically guarantee a “more entertaining” or “more thrilling” tournament for anybody who is already interested in the World Cup.

      • dave says:

        And they’ll always be piss poor so long as the “established” nations keep their stranglehold on the game. I’d rather watch a team that could surprise me than seeing the same old countries perenially under-achieve.

        Again arrogance, why stop more fans from other nations becoming interested in the world cup, the sport does not belong to England thank god.

    • A Nonny Moose says:

      And Iceland is this year’s Costa Rica

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