The Highlight of the World Cup Was Better Than Ever This Year, but FIFA Is Still Preparing to Sabotage It
The current 32-team format of the FIFA World Cup has been in play since 1998. 32 teams get divided into eight groups of four teams each. The two best teams from each group get qualified for the knockout stages, where each group winner play against the runners-up of the other group.
The 32-team FIFA World Cup format is a nice-clean format, which has been working perfectly fine since coming to play. However, FIFA is planning to ruin it by introducing a new 48-team format. The FIFA Council approved the plan back in January 2017.
The 48 teams will be divided into 16 groups of three teams. The top two teams from each group will progress to the knockout stages, which will have a total of 32 teams.
In the current format, each team plays three games during the group stages, whereas in a 48-team format each team will only play just two group stage games. Teams going through a four-year World Cup qualification process to play just two games isn’t ideal.
Currently, the final group-stage game gets played at the same time, which reduces the chances of a collision of the result. However, in the new format, one team has to watch the final group stage game.
During the FIFA World Cup in 1982, Austria deliberately lost 1-0 to West Germany to ensure knockout stage qualification for both teams at the expense of Algeria, who have already played their last group stage game. The 48-team format puts the risk of its repetition very high.
“I am convinced that if the teams, the countries have more opportunities to go to the world stage, it will do more for (football) development inside that country.”
FIFA’s decision to change the format has received a lot of criticism from fans and pundits alike since its approval. It is believed that it will ruin the fun of the competition.
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