PHILADELPHIA — No continent has benefited more from World Cup expansion than Africa.
In total, 10 sides qualified for the tournament, doubling the five spots African sides used to get when a 32-team field was utilized. Nine advanced from the group stage to reach the round of 32, with only Tunisia getting eliminated.
And yet, after Ghana’s 2-1 loss to Croatia to round out the group stage on Saturday, Black Stars manager Carlos Queiroz suggested expansion has been a mistake because it takes the luster off earning a place.
“I never see in my life common things, ordinary things that become huge value,” Queiroz said. “So the number of teams that qualify for World Cup, I am afraid that can turn this competition to a vulgar, an ordinary competition.”
Ghana was already assured a spot in the last 32 after other group results on Friday.
Africa received nine automatic berths for the 48-team tournament to be decided among 53 competing nations. Then the Democratic Republic of the Congo became the 10th African qualifier through the interconfederation playoff pathway, when six teams representing five confederations battled in late March for two World Cup spots.
Still, Queiroz expressed the belief that qualifying matches in many regions were losing meaning.
“In South America, in this moment, the brilliant success of one coach in South America is not to qualify,” Queiroz said sarcastically, noting how more than half of that confederation’s 10 nations were allotted berths.
“Even the qualification matches in Europe and Africa, they start to lose the significance and meaning, because everybody is qualified.”
Queiroz doesn’t exactly have a long history with Ghana, who only hired him in April. However, this is his fifth World Cup as a manager, with the previous four coming in the previous 32-team format.
The first came for his home country of Portugal in 2010, and the next three were for Iran in 2014, 2018 and 2022. Iran are arguably the World Cup regulars with the most antagonistic view of the influence of American-style consumerism on FIFA and the world game.
“Today, money talks in the game. Money talks,” Queiroz said. “And this is called not football but moneyball. So when money starts to talk, the decisions inside the pitch start to change.”
–Ian Nicholas Quillen, Field Level Media
