Fifa have announced the expansion of the World Cup.
The competition will be expanded from the current format of 32 teams to include a further 16 nations for the 2026 tournament.
The wise football sages of the Fifa council unanimously approved the proposal at a meeting on Tuesday morning in Zurich, Switzerland.
.@dionfanning on the reasoning behind a 48-team World Cuphttps://t.co/h351mAeUMb
— SportsJOE (@SportsJOEdotie) January 10, 2017
Here’s everything you need to know about the new World Cup and what it will mean for the Republic of Ireland.
How will it work?
The current format features 32 teams, with eight groups of four teams. The top two from each group advance to the knock-out stages. The new format will have 48 teams, with 16 groups of three teams. The top two from each group will advance, after a round-robin format (each team plays each other once), to the knock-out stages.
If group games end in a draw, the contest could go to penalties to decide a winner. However, that proposal has yet to be confirmed.
This sounds complicated and weird, should I be in favour of these changes?
There are two ways to look at it.
On the one hand, the quality of the tournament will undoubtedly be diluted. Euro 2016, which saw an extra eight teams compete at the finals, was probably the worst European Championships ever for attacking football and entertainment.
Completely unnecessary changes https://t.co/hRyOrAhsgV
— SportsJOE (@SportsJOEdotie) January 8, 2017
It will be perfectly understandable if you choose to do something else with your life instead of watch China versus Haiti.
However, there’ll be 80 games at the 2026 World Cup. That’s an increase on the 48 games played at a 32-team World Cup. That’s a lot of football matches in a month.
You’re not going to complain if there’s more football on TV, are you? Especially if there’s a chance of a penalty shoot-out at the end of each game.
As it is, international football is average. It’s slow, defensive and a couple of levels below the best Champions League games. Can this expansion really make it any worse? Probably, but with so many games, you can pick and choose what you want to watch.
And more knock-out games can only lead to more entertaining games. In theory, at least.
Jose Mourinho recently made a strong argument in favour of an expanded tournament.
“The expansion means that the World Cup will be even more of an incredible social event,” the Manchester United manager said.
“More nations taking part means more passion, more happiness, more enthusiasm. More countries means more Africans, Asians, Americans together. Football is developed in the clubs, so we can’t expect football to explode in terms of quality at a World Cup. The World Cup is a social event and football can’t relinquish this opportunity to further reflect fans’ passion.”
The expanded competition won’t mean more games for the teams though. The finalists will play seven games, the same number of games as under the current format.
Fair enough, but why are Fifa expanding the tournament?
We’ll give you a clue: it begins with the letter “M” and rhymes with “funny.”
The expanded tournament is expected to earn football’s governing body an extra $1b (€950m) in sweet, sweet revenue. FIFA have, of course, said the 2026 tournament has been expanded to benefit smaller football nations.
Fifa president Gianni Infantino said the World Cup should be “more inclusive.”
So, who gets the extra spots and what oil rich state with a questionable human rights record will stage this whole thing?
Fifa have yet to confirm the allocation of the extra 16 places among the confederations.
Europe will get an extra three places under current proposals. 13 teams currently qualify from the continent.
South America currently have 4.5 qualifiers (four automatic qualification spots and a play-off spot). That will increase to six for the 2026 tournament.
World Cup here we come https://t.co/S3UnlhZxVX
— SportsJOE (@SportsJOEdotie) December 30, 2016
Africa’s representation will increase from five to nine. Asia’s will increase from 4.5 to 8.5. North American representation will rise from 3.5 to 6.5. Oceania, which currently only has a play-off spot, will receive one automatic qualification slot.
The last place goes to, of course, the host country.
Mexico, Canada, Colombia and the United States have, so far, stated that they will bid for the tournament. The smart money would be on the US winning the bid.
What does all this mean for the Republic of Ireland?
In theory, three extra qualification can only improve Ireland’s chances of qualifying for the World Cup.
Of course, no-one knows what type of team we will have in nine years. Although we wouldn’t be surprised if Robbie Keane is manager.
Jeff Hendrick and Stephen Ward have scored for Burnley. Just give Ireland the World Cup now, Fifa
— SportsJOE (@SportsJOEdotie) December 10, 2016
But, based on the current rankings, and the expected breakdown of the new slots among the confederations, it is good news for the Boys in Green.
Football journalist Daniel Storey has crunched the numbers, and, Ireland would qualify.
Scotland’s wait for another appearance at a major tournament goes on, however.
On current rankings and expected confederation split, a 48 World Cup would include these teams. pic.twitter.com/U5wARYRewN
— Daniel Storey (@danielstorey85) January 10, 2017
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