Sepp Blatter was in South Africa last week to check on the progress of the nation’s World Cup bid. During his stay, he discussed how the World Cup qualifying quotas could change in the future so that Africa could have more places in the World Cup finals.
Now Blatter is never to be taken seriously, everything he says it politically motivated, including this latest statement. This is just part of the “World Cup package” so to speak. Africa was awarded the World Cup, and this is just some extra icing on the cake, after all, you need to keep the CAF happy. The point he raises about redistributing the World Cup places around the world however, is one that should be discussed for future tournaments. Although the current setup is adequate it can be improved.
The current setup is as follows:
Host – 1, Africa – 5, Asia – 4.5, Oceania – 0.5, Europe – 13, CONCACAF – 3.5, South America – 4.5
I have no objections to the host qualifying automatically, it is an integral part of the World Cup and it’d be stupid to change that.
Africa lives and breathes football. It is the national sport of most countries and in some poorer countries its the only sport they know. During the 90’s and up until Germany 2006, Africa was mainly about Cameroon and Nigeria.
These teams consistently performed, however, in recent history we’ve seen the emergence of teams like Cote D’Ivoire, Ghana and Egypt amongst others. This shows that the continent has depth, and because of this they certainly deserve an extra spot at least. Verdict: Increase places from 5 to 6
Asia is one of the fastest growing confederations in the world. This was due to it hosting the World Cup in 2002 and also the introduction of Australia into the confederation. Korea, Japan and Australia have all had success at recent World Cups. With Australia coming in, there is another big player in the mix to qualify. For these reasons, Asia, justifiably, should have their places increased slightly. Verdict: Increase places from 4.5 to 5
Oceania should not be a confederation. When your top ranked team is in the 100s you know there is a problem. With all due respect, with Australia out of the mix now, this confederation consists of New Zealand and some pacific islands, many of which have players who are amateurs. 0.5 places is too much.
Yes you read that correctly, too much. In theory, if the top team in the confederation had a ranking of 64 they’d deserve 0.5 spots because there are in total 32 spots. Oceania, with a ranking in the 100s, therefore deserves less.
I propose we bring back the system in place for qualifying for USA 94, where Oceania had 0.25 spots. Confused, well don’t be. All 0.25 means is that they’ll need to playoff twice to get a spot in the World Cup finals. With teams as pathetic as this, Oceania deserves a hard run into the finals, because let’s face it, if this confederation was represented at the World Cup, many games would be a farce, and we all know it. Verdict: Reduce places from 0.5 to 0.25
Europe is probably the strongest confederation in the world. Not only does it have some amazing teams, but it has incredible depth, and nothing can be taken for granted. Every World Cup, there are handful of very talented teams who are unlucky and miss out. Unfortunately they have 13 spots already, which is a very large chunk of the pie, and increasing the places wouldn’t be fair. Verdict: Remain as is on 13
I will never understand why CONCACAF has 3.5 places. CONCACAF is basically Oceania plus Mexico and the USA, am I wrong? That’s the harsh reality. So the calculation is simple, 2 + 0.25 = 2.25. Frankly, the USA doesn’t care about football at all.
Their people would rather bask in their baseball, basketball and NFL. They have no respect for the world’s most popular sport. Their spot should go to someone who cares, from Africa, Asia or Europe. For practical purposes however, I’ll have to maintain that the USA have been competitive in previous World Cups, and deserve a spot. Verdict: Reduce from 3.5 to 2.25
South America should remain as is. I have no objections. Verdict: Remain as is on 4.5
So in summary:
Host – 1, Africa – 6, Asia – 5, Oceania – 0.25, Europe – 13, CONCACAF – 2.25, South America – 4.5
Playoffs:
Playoff 1: Winner Oceania Vs 3rd place CONCACAF
Playoff 2: Winner of Playoff 1 Vs 5th Place South America
The winner of Playoff 2 advances to the World Cup finals.