Schmaucher t1_jc7n43w wrote
48 teams is way too many. Just decreases the quality of those initial games. It'll be almost certainly the same teams at the end anyway. Just pads it all out and adds some nations that field Championship level teams to get bopped by France so that Mbappe can claim the all time WC goalscorer record before he's 30
Minia15 t1_jc7opkx wrote
Parity will continue to increase. Those lower ranked teams will get better and better and dual citizen players will potentially have more options without having to risk missing.
TheNextBattalion t1_jc80nct wrote
They did say the same about the 24 and 32 team expansions, but other nations stepped up. Sure it's always the same few at the very end (or nearly so), but until that point there's a lot of drama
ForWhomTheBoneBones t1_jc8p2fu wrote
There's a superfan turned scout who has jumpstarted El Salvador's football program in hopes of getting the team into the 2026 World Cup.
El Salvador has suffered a major talent drain since the start of its Civil War that continued after it ended thanks to all the gang violence.
As such, this guy is scouring the Earth to find players born to Salvadoran parents in order to rebuild the team and put them on the world stage.
The craziest part is that it's working.
[deleted] t1_jc97hws wrote
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postmawho t1_jc8potr wrote
Your second paragraph doesn't make sense.
Also the "craziest part is that it's working" phrase sounds like an AI robot who's trying to get clicks.
Good luck to El Salvador.
ForWhomTheBoneBones t1_jc8q4ib wrote
I should explain further. In the years since El Salvador's civil war started, a lot of it's able-bodied young men fled the country for their own safety.
Fewer young men in the country means that there's a smaller talent pool to field a team from. As such, the quality of El Salvador's teams have declined over the past 40 years.
As far as sounding like an AI robot, I guess I write at a level that is both generic enough and good enough for a bot trying to be a good writer.
postmawho t1_jc8t0s1 wrote
Fair enough. I believe you're real (can't be too careful. Idk where El Salvador is with AI tech).
I'm sorry to hear that. I always like seeing El Salvador in the World Cup and I hope they can prosper from this.
ForWhomTheBoneBones t1_jc8uhfy wrote
They've been in it twice. Once in 1970 and again in 1986. They've been close a number of times, but it usually has come down to winning one more game in their conference and it's usually been against Mexico - which is to say that they get trounced before they make it to the Cup.
[deleted] t1_jcc1chd wrote
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TheNextBattalion t1_jc98s7p wrote
>Your second paragraph doesn't make sense.
I thought it did:
The civil war began, the talent drain followed.
The civil war ended, but gang violence took over, so the talent drain continued.
[deleted] t1_jcc11pl wrote
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--___- t1_jc91fsa wrote
How many Brazilians will play in the next World Cup?
Saltire_Blue t1_jc82puo wrote
People don’t really watch the WC for the quality in my experience
It’s the biggest sport tournament in the world, football is truly a global sport
It can also give your country a real buzz about it knowing they have qualified for the tournament
Japordoo t1_jc8ngti wrote
It’s true. If you’re watching for quality, the club game is much better where the tactics are honed and refined.
pargofan t1_jc8xzn6 wrote
I think the games this world cup were quite superior. It might have been because of the mid season break. But they were all great.
Japordoo t1_jc909yj wrote
They were. On a whole though you’re seeing more sophisticated tactics at the club level just because the players are picked for a system and it’s honed week in and week out.
EdwardBigby t1_jca1f65 wrote
Superior in what way? Funner more exciting games? Possibly but not superior players or tactical structure.
kaam00s t1_jc9u1n3 wrote
No, the players often play with their fucking lives in the world cup, which leads to some of the best games in football history.
anonssr t1_jc98tpz wrote
I mean, it's true but it sucks when you blatantly see the switch from "let's have the best of the best compite to see who is the actually the best!" to "alright, how can we make more money outta this?".
It not only decreases the quality, it's just fucking sucks. The football calendar it's already insane at the top level. Some players having you to 70 games per (normal) year. The regular WC adds 7 games in 3 weeks for the top 4. Lots of players end up having injuries bexause of how many games they play and how little rest in between games they get.
So, it kinda sucks overall. It's not gonna be a great thing as a result but it's definitely gonna bring more attention to it and most likely bring more turism cash to the hosts.
Giboon t1_jcajwga wrote
I do watch for the quality of games. I'm not so interested in watching Andorra Vs. Qatar.
FrancoNore t1_jc809yc wrote
Not necessarily. Every year there’s multiple decent teams that get left out our the WC. In 2022 you have Italy, Sweden, Chile, Colombia, Egypt, Norway, and Nigeria, for example.
Yeah there will be some lesser teams that make it in, but every WC we see shocking results that change group dynamics, even if a team doesn’t make it through the group they still have a chance to cause chaos by pulling a draw or upset win.
Not to mention WC appearances will likely help the development of the nations that otherwise wouldn’t make it in, and many dual citizens may be more inclined to play for the lesser team in favor of playing time
recycleddesign t1_jc9vk5d wrote
The qualification for African nations is brutal.. so many groups and stages.. all to boil it down to 5. The depth of quality is much higher than it used to be. They deserve more places.
mrubuto22 t1_jc8bia7 wrote
Yea they could have done some sort of play-in tourney for the bottom 12
chattywww t1_jc8wmfu wrote
It will give underdeveloped (football) countries chances to feel included and perhaps encourage them to improve to field competitive teams
Polo1985 t1_jc8cq2l wrote
They are just milking it for everything they can.
SebasLop t1_jc8hxor wrote
We all know he was going to do it anyway
yavimaya22 t1_jc8xpo6 wrote
Who cares? I hate waiting 4 years to sometimes watch my team play only 3 games. More games, more teams, and make it every 3 years is what I say.
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