The Road to World Cup 2026 and UEFA Nations League

[basher]

I'm struggling to get behind the whole concept of this bloated World Cup.

I touched on this in the cricket thread but this whole quantity over quality is just diluting the product and that filters down to the qualification stage too.

You've ended up with near enough 1 in 4 nations that are affiliated to FIFA qualifying for this World Cup, I don't see how that's right without quality being sacrificed.

And as I say that just filters down to qualification as the qualification groups are so weak.

There used to be real jeopardy in the qualification stages to the extent that they in themselves were compulsive viewing. Now for the stronger nations (by and large*) there is no jeopardy, it's just a breeze so much so that I can't be bothered to even watch England going through qualification as it's meaningless.


* Of course there will be the occasional exceptions but that just proves the rule...

 

[BillyDee]

72 group stage games to eliminate only a third of the teams.

 

[leedswolf]

"FIFA has just agreed a deal to stream World Cup matches on betting websites, pushing the tournament into a space most fans never expected — and most don’t want. It’s being sold as a way to “benefit the game and its fans,” but it’s hard to see how that’s true when access is tied to gambling platforms instead of regular broadcasters.

This feels like another step in the organisation’s shift away from football itself and more toward whatever drives the biggest revenue. Under Sepp Blatter, FIFA had plenty of problems, but there were at least some boundaries. What’s happening now under Gianni Infantino looks very different — nowhere feels off limits when it comes to exploitation and profit".