The long-standing 32-team World Cup format has delivered an exemplary group stage that neither FIFA nor the hosts deserve, but this is the last World Cup where that’s the case.
We’ve looked at the obvious flaws with the 48-team format for 2026 and beyond, and had a lovely time down a rabbit hole discovering how the World Cup having a crappy format is in fact wildly on brand…
Right, now let’s get it out there straight away that there is an awful lot wrong with this World Cup.
Even if we park every single one of the off-field concerns and controversies – which we shouldn’t – we’re still left with two key words that make this World Cup wrong for purely footballing reasons and those words are ‘November’ and ‘December’.
But, annoyingly, there must be some acknowledgement that despite all the honking great big wrongness this is, if we put on the cosy, comforting blinkers and look only on-field, a World Cup that has got a huge amount right.
A combination of factors have combined to deliver an excellent football tournament that neither the hosts nor FIFA deserve. The lack of a clear favourite helps, as does the presence of a genuinely crazy number of all-time great players having their last crack at it amid the emergence of a new generation of talent announcing themselves. The kick-off times are also absolutely deliciously perfect from a selfish western European perspective: it has in lots of ways been absolutely great.
And it’s also the last ever World Cup where that is going to be the case, so it really is worth trying to enjoy it if you can.
Having tarnished the 2022 World Cup so horrifically off the field in pursuit of grubby coin, FIFA are going one better next time and ruining the on-field action too because there are still a few more pound/dollar/euro notes to be wrung out of this quadrennial cash cow.
Because the overarching thing that makes this World Cup work – and the thing that is about to be absolute bollocks after this – is the format. We took it for granted and we shouldn’t have, but there is literally no other sporting event on earth with a format to match the 32-team World Cup.
It lands absolutely in every sweet spot you could ask for. Inclusive enough to be a truly global event without diminishing the achievement of qualification, long enough to give everyone a fair go without becoming arduous or dull. There are almost no dead rubbers, and simultaneous group games in the final round – while denying us the…
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