It was a watershed moment for football last week, when world football’s governing body Fifa passed a resolution to make the World Cup a 48-team affair from its 2026 edition. The decision sparked extreme reactions in the game’s fraternity, but it’s a bold experiment for which Fifa president Gianni Infantino could be lauded in years to come.
Every time the number of teams sees an increase in the World Cup, it is followed by a wave of criticism — and it’s been no different this time. The two main planks of criticism had been the so-called ‘greed’ on the part of Fifa as well as a scepticism about the quality of the game. The last time the World Cup saw an expansion was in 1998 and the sport has seen a paradigm shift in almost two decades since then. Asia and Africa, the two continents that are likely to be the biggest beneficiaries from a ‘bigger’ World Cup, have grown in their clout since then and hosted the showpiece with success.
There are new emerging markets for the game in China and India, while Africa has been the single biggest exporter of talent to all major European leagues. The global economic situation also demands that the most popular sport on earth must move out of the confines of the footballing aristocracy — that is Europe and South America — for it’s own sustenance and growth and Fifa’s move is a step in that direction. There should not be much concern about the quality of football — thanks to a radical format mooted by Fifa. The 16 additional games under the new format will only be like a prelude to the knockout action, where the men will be separated from the boys.
It’s time then to welcome the ‘bigger’ World Cup!