48 Team FIFA World Cup Finals Approved

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Robin

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Fifa has approved the expansion of the world cup finals from 32 to 48 teams for the 2026 event on wards. Thoughts? Although I like the idea of more teams getting the chance to play in the finals think it's going to make the first round extremely tedious with SIXTEEN 3 team groups!

The Independent had some interesting comments about the news :lol:

"The Panini sticker album will be like War and Peace..."

http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/...out-fifas-new-48-team-world-cup-a7519126.html
 
16 groups, all the way down to Group P. P = Payday for FIFA.

It could work I suppose and I assume the groups of three will reduce the amount of dead rubbers that you see in four team groups. What I'm worried about is the quality of the matches. When the Euros expanded last year it was probably the worst international tournament I'd ever seen. The problem was there were too many teams who set themselves up just to basically defend for 90 minutes which resulted in some very poor games.
 
On top of this stupid money grab idea, Infantilo is thinking about a penalty shootout after a draw in the groupstages.
 
All the other confederations hate UEFA for their grip on World Cup places and this is just a way of getting more African and Asian teams into the World Cup. Good idea, yes, but this is not the way to fix it.

At 48 teams where do we go next? In 20 years they'll want to expand it again. It's almost not worth having qualifiers and just having a closed shop tournament for national FAs who kiss the most arse. That's what they've always wanted to do with the Champions League anyway and it wouldn't surprise me if the World Cup went the same way.

When the Euros expanded last year it was probably the worst international tournament I'd ever seen. The problem was there were too many teams who set themselves up just to basically defend for 90 minutes which resulted in some very poor games.

The two surprise teams at that tournament, Wales (semis) and Iceland (quarters), were two teams widely predicted to do terribly at that tournament. Some of the worst performing teams at international tournaments over the last 20 years have been big boys who aren't as good as they think they are.
Naming no Englands.

Arguably Portugal was the most disliked team at Euro 16 and they went on to win the bloody thing.

On top of this stupid money grab idea, Infantilo is thinking about a penalty shootout after a draw in the groupstages.

I hate penalty shootouts. That MLS clip with the one-on-one shootout, it gets ridiculed by English football fans purely because it's "American" or something but I think it's a brilliant and fairer scenario. If, if, you were to have a shootout I'd rather have that than penalties.

But not to settle draws.
 
Is it wrong that I like this idea purely because this gives Ireland a better chance of qualifying? :lol:
 
Yes. It's far better than a penalty shootout. Penalties are not exactly biased in favour of the attacker but biased against the goalkeeper. The one-on-one shootout is more balanced shootout method in my opinion. Good for cup and knockout games.
 
What to do to get access to a country's new-found football TV goldmine when they are too crap to qualify for your tournament...
 
On top of this stupid money grab idea, Infantilo is thinking about a penalty shootout after a draw in the groupstages.
I assume that it would be for a bonus point as it is in the EFL trophy. I actually like that idea because 3 points will be given out for every game.
 
Can @Famine create the hypothetical FIFA tournaments since 1940 with the upcoming format or will he beat me senselessly with a bunt cake for suggesting it?
 
All the other confederations hate UEFA for their grip on World Cup places and this is just a way of getting more African and Asian teams into the World Cup.
They may hate it but they have repeatedly shown that they don't deserve more places in the world cup, and quite frankly, I don't believe that any confederation other than UEFA and COMNEBOL deserves one of the 16 new places.

Politics.
 
Each confederation should improve their continental competition instead of simply having the world cup offer more places.

As Famine alluded to, it's just a backdoor to get countries like China to the WC. FIFA needs some of that sweet, sweet artificially propped-up yuan.

Don't be surprised if they end up hosting 2026 anyway.
 
Yes. It's far better than a penalty shootout. Penalties are not exactly biased in favour of the attacker but biased against the goalkeeper. The one-on-one shootout is more balanced shootout method in my opinion. Good for cup and knockout games.

This looks similar to what we have in hockey.

 
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