【Double Cross (1996)】

FIFA made what had previously been floated official on Double Cross (1996)Tuesday by voting to expand the World Cup field from 32 to 48 teams beginning with the 2026 tournament.

In doing so, it just might have ruined the greatest spectacle in sports.

SEE ALSO: It's (almost) official: The 2022 World Cup is a total abomination

Whispers of an expansion to the World Cup field have been making their way through the soccer universe for months. The primary knee-jerk reactions to a bigger field boil down primarily to two fears. First, that the tournament's quality will be diluted by including less accomplished teams. Second, that its format will be rendered obtuse and awkward if grown beyond the convenient current format of 32 nations.

Predictably, the soccer world did not take Tuesday's news of an expanded field well.

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This tweet, however, captured the mood best.

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Because FIFA is still tainted by the stench of recent scandal, let's start with the money. This undoubtably makes FIFA richer -- it estimates the 2026 World Cup with its expanded field will pull in about a billion dollars more than the 2018 tournament will with its 32-team field. So, yes, FIFA is working here in its own best interests (because of course it is, this is FIFA).

Theoretically, that money will get redistributed to help promote soccer participation in nations that could use some infrastructure help. If FIFA can indeed clean itself up, a bigger field will help soccer in places the game needs help.

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And that leads to the only real argument in favor of expanding the field: A more inclusive World Cup.

Europe is reportedly set to get 16 teams into the new-look tournament, as opposed to 13 under the current format. Africa is set to get 9 teams in, up from 5. Asia is set to get 8.5 teams, up from 4.5 (an inter-continental playoff between a borderline qualifier from elsewhere on the globe accounts for the stray .5). North and Central America are set to get 6.5 teams up, from 3.5. South America is set to get 6 teams, up from 4.5.

A less Euro-centric tournament is definitely cool in many ways, but will it be worth the cost?

Cue the ominous music

Original image has been replaced. Credit: Mashable

While making for a more inclusive tournament, a 48-team World Cup would likely include several teams that, from a quality perspective, have no business being there. What's the upshot for neutral fans? More group-stage blowouts, as well as more games in which an overmatched side tries to muck the game up in hopes of hanging with a better opponent.

Actually, speaking of the group stage ... The format as it stood was indeed perfect! Clean. Easy. Simple.

Eight groups of four teams meant that the two from each advanced to a 16-team elimination round. Now? What's slated to happen beginning in 2026 is we'll see a field comprised of 16 groups of three teams apiece. Two teams from each group will advance, making getting out of the group stage much less of an accomplishment. That format also ensures many less equipped teams will reach the knockout stage, where anything can happen.

A minnow knocking out a world power in the elimination round of 32 thanks to one lucky strike and 85 minutes of parking the bus thereafter might be exciting in the short term. But in the longer term it dilutes the tournament's quality and errs too far on the side of unpredictability for a global mega-event that comes but once every four years.

Now, it's certainly possible all this fuss will prove unfounded. The World Cup has expanded before, of course, from 16 to 24 teams in 1982 and from 24 to 32 teams in 1998. That's what led to the field deemed perfect by many who argued against Tuesday's expansion to 48 teams. Perhaps expanding the field more will lead to a tournament that's even more perfect.

One can certainly hope so. One does certainly hope so.

But one also fears we'll look back on Tuesday's vote in 2026 as the moment the greatest event in sports grew too big for its own good.

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