By Nathaniel Charendoff ’17, Section Editor

48 teams. 50% increase.

80 games. 25% increase.

These numbers represent a drastic change in the structure of soccer’s most distinguished and celebrated tournament: the FIFA World Cup.

The World Cup is known to soccer fans, players, and enthusiasts around the planet as the most prestigious, enticing, and gratifying event the world’s most popular sport has to offer. Some do argue that tournaments such as the UEFA Champions League offer a higher quality of play, and this is true; the teams that make up the UCL are essentially all-star teams containing the best players from all corners of the world. However, what makes the World Cup so uniquely incredible is the unparalleled passion and thirst that comes from representing one’s own nation. It’s every young soccer player’s dream to pull on the jersey sporting their country’s crest and set foot into an atmosphere of blaring whistles and deafening cheers. It’s every fan’s dream to create this atmosphere and watch the team that represents their nation lift the golden trophy at the end of the tournament. It is this unbelievable sense of pride and zeal that runs through every aspect of the FIFA World Cup that sets the tournament apart from every other.

But, FIFA President Gianni Infantino’s recent decision to vastly expand the tournament might jeopardize these values. By adding a whopping 16 more teams to the competition, FIFA is likely to dilute both the quality and significance of the World Cup; not only is the tournament itself  devalued, but the qualifying process is too. Australian international soccer player Alex Brosque commented that FIFA’s alteration would “take the prestige out of what it means to qualify for the World Cup” and that “the 32-team competition meant that it was hard… you had to earn you place to get there.” Even avid soccer enthusiast Anthony Giachin 17’ reflected, “I think it’s a step in the wrong direction because the teams they are adding are going to decrease the quality of play and make it less interesting to watch.”

There are certainly ways to make the World Cup a more inclusive event by restructuring qualifying match formats, but it seems all too clear that fiddling about with the actual competition is not the way to go.

Because of the substantial increase in the number of teams allowed to participate, more games will be played, and what logically follows is more and more cash. More tickets will have to be sold, more television, more advertising rights disseminated, and overall, more profit. FIFA’s desire to inflate the tournament seems odd, especially coming from a “non-profit” organization that claims to prioritize the global betterment of the sport.

Perhaps there are some benefits, though. It would give opportunities to lesser countries with inferior soccer programs. It would also give some extra spots to countries from Africa, Asia, North and Central America, and the Caribbean, which would allow for a more global landscape. The arguments being made by those against the World Cup expansion are the same as those made when the World Cup went from a tournament of 13 teams, to 16 teams, to 24 teams, and eventually to 1998 with 32 teams. Kiran Damodaran 17’, NA soccer captain and fan himself, adds “I think the increase in number of teams will make the World Cup an even larger global event. In terms of actual soccer, I think it will be beneficial for viewers in the sense that we will get to watch more games, see more upsets, and root for more underdogs. Considering the exclusion of good teams in recent World Cups, I believe it will also allow for greater competition and prevent good teams from being excluded from the event due to poor performance in the faulty qualifying process.”

The 2026 World Cup is still 9 years away, and no one knows what might happen between now and then.  Regardless of your take on the issue, we can agree, above all, that soccer should not be a sport dominated by money, however unrealistic that might be. It should be, as we tell our youth, for fun— for the nonpareil passion that is derived from players and fans worldwide.