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World Cup 2030 - Qualifying to change?

PJH

PJH

Striker
Just seen that UEFA are proposing Champions League style group stage for 2030 qualifying, with some nations playing in their own league. Very light on details about how slots will work but basics here:

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Says top ranked teams of each group in League 1 will qualify - so that means the best Group C team would qualify even if they finished 10th or so in league positions.

Very light on details, but removes games against the minnow nations, unless they end up in the top 36 nations via Nations League.
 

42 said:
Dunno why they just dont do what all the other confederations do & have preliminary rounds for the lower ranked teams. This new suggested format sounds silly
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Off hand it sounds silly. But think part of the issue is getting 54 teams (excluding Russia) into 16 qualifying teams is tricky. Think I can think of a way that has 4 preliminary rounds before group stages.

Something like: Set up to have 8 teams of 5, with either top 2 in each group automatically qualify or just top team and then 2nd and 3rd teams playoff for the other 8 spots.

Top 32 teams seeded into 4 pots for 4 spaces in each group, with 5th spot in each group being preliminary winners.

Leaves 22 teams for preliminaries. Say top 5 ranked get a by to Preliminary Final. Leaves 17 teams. Next 5 in rankings by to the Preliminary Semi Final. So 12 teams left. Bottom 4 play Preliminary Round 1, leaving 10 teams to play in Preliminary Round 2, with 5 going to meet the 5 with a by to the Semi Finals, winners play 5 with a by to the final.
 
PJH said:
Off hand it sounds silly. But think part of the issue is getting 54 teams (excluding Russia) into 16 qualifying teams is tricky. Think I can think of a way that has 4 preliminary rounds before group stages.

Something like: Set up to have 8 teams of 5, with either top 2 in each group automatically qualify or just top team and then 2nd and 3rd teams playoff for the other 8 spots.

Top 32 teams seeded into 4 pots for 4 spaces in each group, with 5th spot in each group being preliminary winners.

Leaves 22 teams for preliminaries. Say top 5 ranked get a by to Preliminary Final. Leaves 17 teams. Next 5 in rankings by to the Preliminary Semi Final. So 12 teams left. Bottom 4 play Preliminary Round 1, leaving 10 teams to play in Preliminary Round 2, with 5 going to meet the 5 with a by to the Semi Finals, winners play 5 with a by to the final.
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Originally it was about giving the smaller nations competitive matches which is now addressed by the nations league. There is only a small handful of shite teams anyway, and its not difficult with current numbers

55 teams, lowest ranked 14 teams in 2 legged play off reduces teams to 48 which fits nicely into 8 groups of 6 with top 2 qualifying. Similarly 54 teams, playoff for lowest ranked 12 teams gets you to 48. Then you pretty much eliminate the likes of San Marino & Gibraltar from the group stage
contrarian said:
Am I missing something but doesnt FiFA have to approve such changes?
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Think its pretty much upto the confederations to decide on their own qualifiers. Its why they vary so differently
 
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42 said:
Originally it was about giving the smaller nations competitive matches which is now addressed by the nations league. There is only a small handful of shite teams anyway, and its not difficult with current numbers

55 teams, lowest ranked 14 teams in 2 legged play off reduces teams to 48 which fits nicely into 8 groups of 6 with top 2 qualifying. Similarly 54 teams, playoff for lowest ranked 12 teams gets you to 48. Then you pretty much eliminate the likes of San Marino & Gibraltar from the group stage


Think its pretty much upto the confederations to decide on their own qualifiers. Its why they vary so differently
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Part of the idea is trying to remove dead rubber games and more highly mismatched games. Just picking the top of the pot teams in splitting UEFA into 8 pots (going of 2026 qualifying seeding, and first two of pot 8 would be ones avoiding the 12 team playoff) and you could have a group of Spain, England, Hungary, Scotland, Northern Ireland & Armenia in a group. Certainly 2 teams there totally just making up the numbers, and it'd take banana peel performances from us or Spain to even allow Hungary or Scotland a sniff, who would likely have to get results against each other to take full advantage of a slip up.
 
Just get rid of qualifying and have one massive world cup. Straight to the knockout stage. Infantino can work that egg head of his as to how we get 206 down to 128.
 
Why not have a separate tournament for the tiny countries? Then the winner of that gets into the WC qualifiers.

FIFA could market it as World Cup Jr or something. Hold it in Saudi Arabia every four years to keep them happy.
 
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