FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 - Knockout Phase

[Sedale Threatt]

If you're watching from home on TV, as 99.9 pct of us are, what possible difference does it make how spread out the stadiums are? It has exactly zero impact on your viewing experience, or the quality of matches.

In 1994 Brazil played the semi final in Cali, while played in NJ, and the final was played in Cali. With 3-4 days between games, this can an advantage for some teams. Things like this need to be sorted out. Traveling cross country between games should be a no-no

I agree that organizers should try to mitigate circumstances like that. But that doesn't have anything to do with the question I posed.

EDIT: I suppose the "quality of matches" bit falls under that umbrella, so fair point there.

[hermes]

2026 also won't be the first time multiple countries have hosted

I'm fine with a joint host of neighboring countries, especially if they are smaller.

But 3 is a little much, especially the next one which will be massive. The future potential hosts only gets bigger and more. There's some bids with 5 hosting countries.

the usa can easily host it themselves, why were the other two added on i wonder. mexico has hosted previously but its been a while. do they just want more countries involved and its hard to get around to everyone since the event only happens every four years

[Fairview4Life]

Japan team and the fans deserve nothing but respect and love, nothin but class. cant say the same about a couple of other euro teams.

Read on Twitter

Apparently I am the only one who was immediately reminded of Ace Ventura.

[Sedale Threatt]

lololol

can't unsee that now

[clyde21]

Enjoy it while it lasts, fellas. I really think this will be the last great World Cup until FIFA decides to stick to the regular/traditional format.

I admit, I'm not a fan of the Winter World Cup, but it's not a deal breaker for me.

But this 48 team format, is weird. And I think it's going to be a mess.

On top of that, a World Cup will likely now be hosted in multiple countries with stadiums very wide apart. Kinda kills the vibe to me. It was always cool to focus on one new culture.

FIFA Reconsidering Three-Team Groups For 2026 World Cup:
https://soccer.realgm.com/wiretap/10165/FIFA-Reconsidering-Three-Team-Groups-For-2026-World-Cup

Traditional? The format has been in place since 1998.
I am no fan of 48 teams, but the only positive it's that we will have 16 european teams, so the chances of a team like Italy missing out are a bit lower. The current qualifying system sucks, and in European elite teams miss out fairly often.

Mexico is the one that adds to the travel time. Canadian cities are very close to the US border, so just with US and Canada it would have been just like in 1994. They said they will group the matches in the same area, so we would not have a repeat of 1994. We will see how well they will do that.

why does Italy deserve to be in the WC if they can't even beat NM?

and this feels a lot like the NBA expanding the POs with the play-ins. just more games for more money, and since you seem to be more worried about quality football, weird that you think this is a good idea.

or maybe you just want more european teams.

[Mamba81p]

Enjoy it while it lasts, fellas. I really think this will be the last great World Cup until FIFA decides to stick to the regular/traditional format.

I admit, I'm not a fan of the Winter World Cup, but it's not a deal breaker for me.

But this 48 team format, is weird. And I think it's going to be a mess.

On top of that, a World Cup will likely now be hosted in multiple countries with stadiums very wide apart. Kinda kills the vibe to me. It was always cool to focus on one new culture.

FIFA Reconsidering Three-Team Groups For 2026 World Cup:
https://soccer.realgm.com/wiretap/10165/FIFA-Reconsidering-Three-Team-Groups-For-2026-World-Cup

Traditional? The format has been in place since 1998.
I am no fan of 48 teams, but the only positive it's that we will have 16 european teams, so the chances of a team like Italy missing out are a bit lower. The current qualifying system sucks, and in European elite teams miss out fairly often.

Mexico is the one that adds to the travel time. Canadian cities are very close to the US border, so just with US and Canada it would have been just like in 1994. They said they will group the matches in the same area, so we would not have a repeat of 1994. We will see how well they will do that.

why does Italy deserve to be in the WC if they can't even beat NM?

and this feels a lot like the NBA expanding the POs with the play-ins. just more games for more money, and since you seem to be more worried about quality football, weird that you think this is a good idea.

or maybe you just want more european teams.

do you have reading comprehension issues? I said I am not a fan of 48 teams

[clyde21]

Traditional? The format has been in place since 1998.
I am no fan of 48 teams, but the only positive it's that we will have 16 european teams, so the chances of a team like Italy missing out are a bit lower. The current qualifying system sucks, and in European elite teams miss out fairly often.

Mexico is the one that adds to the travel time. Canadian cities are very close to the US border, so just with US and Canada it would have been just like in 1994. They said they will group the matches in the same area, so we would not have a repeat of 1994. We will see how well they will do that.

why does Italy deserve to be in the WC if they can't even beat NM?

and this feels a lot like the NBA expanding the POs with the play-ins. just more games for more money, and since you seem to be more worried about quality football, weird that you think this is a good idea.

or maybe you just want more european teams.

do you have reading comprehension issues? I said I am not a fan of 48 teams

and you followed it up by saying the positive is teams like Italy, who couldn't even beat NM, would get in.

why is that a positive?

[clyde21]

Ronaldo lookin good

Read on Twitter

[Mamba81p]

why does Italy deserve to be in the WC if they can't even beat NM?

and this feels a lot like the NBA expanding the POs with the play-ins. just more games for more money, and since you seem to be more worried about quality football, weird that you think this is a good idea.

or maybe you just want more european teams.

do you have reading comprehension issues? I said I am not a fan of 48 teams

and you followed it up by saying the positive is teams like Italy, who couldn't even beat NM, would get in.

why is that a positive?

Yes, both can be true at the same time. Because the current qualification system sucks. It's not very representative of the value of teams, so we very often lose very good teams in the process, even though they might be defending European champions. Europe has very limited spots given their total domination over world football/soccer, so with a flawed system it's very easy for these things to happen. I would rather fix the qualification system, but I am not the one who decides this.

[clyde21]

do you have reading comprehension issues? I said I am not a fan of 48 teams

and you followed it up by saying the positive is teams like Italy, who couldn't even beat NM, would get in.

why is that a positive?

Yes, both can be true at the same time. Because the current qualification system sucks. It's not very representative of the value of teams, so we very often lose very good teams in the process, even though they might be defending European champions. Europe has very limited spots given their total domination over world football/soccer, so with a flawed system it's very easy for these things to happen. I would rather fix the qualification system, but I am not the one who decides this.

so in Italy's case, did they not qualify because of the qualification system, or because they are crap?

because if they are crap I'm wondering why a dude so adamant about 'quality football' would want more **** teams qualified.

[clyde21]

[Mamba81p]

and you followed it up by saying the positive is teams like Italy, who couldn't even beat NM, would get in.

why is that a positive?

Yes, both can be true at the same time. Because the current qualification system sucks. It's not very representative of the value of teams, so we very often lose very good teams in the process, even though they might be defending European champions. Europe has very limited spots given their total domination over world football/soccer, so with a flawed system it's very easy for these things to happen. I would rather fix the qualification system, but I am not the one who decides this.

so in Italy's case, did they not qualify because of the qualification system, or because they are crap?

because if they are crap I'm wondering why a dude so adamant about 'quality football' would want more **** teams qualified.

qualification system. They cannot be crap when they won the European Championship 1 year ago.

[Mamba81p]

With OFC getting 1 guaranteed spot, I wonder if Australia will come back.

[clyde21]

Yes, both can be true at the same time. Because the current qualification system sucks. It's not very representative of the value of teams, so we very often lose very good teams in the process, even though they might be defending European champions. Europe has very limited spots given their total domination over world football/soccer, so with a flawed system it's very easy for these things to happen. I would rather fix the qualification system, but I am not the one who decides this.

so in Italy's case, did they not qualify because of the qualification system, or because they are crap?

because if they are crap I'm wondering why a dude so adamant about 'quality football' would want more **** teams qualified.

qualification system. They cannot be crap when they won the European Championship 1 year ago.

that's two straight WCs they couldn't qualify for, and they caught an L against North Macedonia in the process. i'm gonna go with subpar instead of blaming the qualification system.

not that this, or any qualification system is perfect.

[Nate505]

If you're watching from home on TV, as 99.9 pct of us are, what possible difference does it make how spread out the stadiums are? It has exactly zero impact on your viewing experience, or the quality of matches.

Agreed. Heck, I was debating on going even if Denver was a host city, but that's just the old man in me who hates going to any sort of event that I can watch on tv.

Still, an actual World Cup game would have probably been enough to drag me out of the house. I wouldn't have even cared about the opponents.

[wco81]

If you're watching from home on TV, as 99.9 pct of us are, what possible difference does it make how spread out the stadiums are? It has exactly zero impact on your viewing experience, or the quality of matches.

Agreed. Heck, I was debating on going even if Denver was a host city, but that's just the old man in me who hates going to any sort of event that I can watch on tv.

Still, an actual World Cup game would have probably been enough to drag me out of the house. I wouldn't have even cared about the opponents.

Prices will probably be ridiculous, with ticket service fees and high parking fees.

Of course that's the case with every sporting event.

[Evenacus]

Wonderful take. Variation of a classic that goes by " but can he do it on rainy day in Stoke"

[links135]

If only 2026 WC was held around this time. Would love to see how the African/SA teams do in a December Canada night.

[fbalmeida]

Alright, I've got a surprise-less Tuesday jotted down. Morocco falling to a comfortable 3-0 win for Spain and a solid tactical 2-0 victory for Portugal over Switzerland.

[LDNMagic90]

Brazilian squads at the world cup, have typically come with a magic and unique style of football that is one of the greatest splendours the sport has to offer.

But let's not call the choreographed celebrations part of their tradition and culture.

They are not. You can go back and watch nearly every goal ever scored by Brazil in its world cup history, and choreographed group dances are a very recent - and IMO pathetic, cringe-inducing, and needless - development.

Prior to this nonsense you can find the odd individual celebration dance by, say, a Ronaldinho Gaúcho, or the famous Bebeto celebration, where Romario and Mazinho joined him in rocking an imaginary cradle to celebrate the birth of Bebeto's baby boy back home.

That's it.

Yes, Brazilians love to dance at the drop of a hat, but its infusion into choreographed celebrations is a recent lamentable turn of events. It's not their tradition.

I dunno I don’t see it as a bad thing. I think this is a classic case of generation differences (and obviously peoples preference). These guys seem to look up to the 2000s Brazil where like you said you had Ronaldinho dancing in the corner etc. According to Brazilians a lot of these are dances that are old, these are dances that were created by people from Favelas. I think it’s just people see these dances going viral on TikTok etc and think it’s a newer thing maybe I don’t know.

It might not be popular but for me I don’t see it as a big deal, I think any team should celebrate how they want so long as it’s not something offensive (like a certain salute). I know a lot of people since the match have spoken about whether it’s disrespectful or not, but for me they are having fun. Most of the people saying it’s disrespectful have no problem when they dance after they score for their respective clubs.