Ghana head coach Carlos Queiroz has criticized the decision to expand the World Cup to 48 teams, saying it has devalued the qualification process and turned the tournament into something “vulgar and ordinary.”
This is the first World Cup to feature 48 teams, with the previous 32-team format being in place since 1998. But the actual decision to expand the tournament was taken in 2017, with FIFA president Gianni Infantino pushing hard for the extra teams.
Infantino’s justification was that it increased “access” to the tournament so that more nations and fans could enjoy being part of the world’s most popular sporting event. Critics, however, have suggested his real motivation was to boost FIFA’s revenues and cement Infantino’s position at the top of the game.
Queiroz has managed 11 different national teams during a coaching career that spans more than four decades. When Ghana beat Panama in their opening game in Toronto on June 17, the 73-year-old became the oldest coach to win a World Cup match.
That win, combined with a hard-earned point against England last week, was enough to secure qualification for the knockout rounds as one of the best third-placed teams. But despite that achievement, the former Manchester United assistant coach is far from convinced that any third-placed teams should be going beyond the group stages.
Speaking to the media after Ghana’s 2-1 defeat to Croatia in Philadelphia on Saturday, Queiroz said: “I believe that value comes when things are rare. The number of teams that can qualify for this competition can turn it into something vulgar and ordinary. When so many teams can qualify, is the value still rare? That would seem debatable to me but it is only my opinion.”
Queiroz was appointed as Ghana’s manager in April, which meant he became only the second coach after the legendary Bora Milutinovic to appear at five consecutive World Cups, having taken Portugal to the 2010 competition and then Iran to the next three editions. He also led South Africa to the 2002 World Cup.
“The real success now in South America would be in not qualifying,” he said, referring to the fact that six of South America’s 10 teams now qualify for the World Cup, with the seventh-place team getting a second chance to do so via the inter-confederation play-offs.
“Who did not qualify in Europe? The qualification tournaments start to lose their significance if everyone qualifies. Qualification should be serious, it should be very tough, very competitive. The World Cup should be something with meaning and significance. It should be rare. But, as you know, today money talks in the game. Where we used to talk about football, it is now moneyball.”
