GHANA COACH CRITICISES TOURNAMENT EXPANSION DESPITE RECORD AFRICAN REPRESENTATION
Read Time:2 Minute, 32 Second
By: Muftau Fatimo
Ghana manager Carlos Queiroz has criticised the expansion of the World Cup to 48 teams, warning that it could reduce the tournament to a “vulgar, ordinary competition.”
His comments come amid a historic showing by African teams, with nine of the 10 participating nations including Ghana progressing to the next round.
The Portuguese coach spoke at a press conference after Ghana’s 2-1 defeat to Croatia on Saturday, a result that still saw the Black Stars advance to the knockout stage as one of the eight best third-placed teams.
“I do believe that what really has huge value, huge and significant value, is [that which] is rare,” Queiroz said. “I’ve never seen in my life common things, ordinary things that come with huge value.”
So, the number of teams that qualify for the World Cup, I am afraid that [it] can turn this competition [into a] vulgar, ordinary competition. … With so many teams qualifying for the World Cup, I think the value of the competition [comes from it] being rare to be in the World Cup. It’s, in my opinion, still debatable. I need to see. It’s one opinion that is based on my personal feeling.”
The former Portugal and Real Madrid manager whose comments came despite the fact that Ghana would have been eliminated for finishing third in their group in previous years went on to say that he felt the decision to expand the competition had financial motivations.
Today, money talks,” he said. “In the game, money talks. This is called not football but Moneyball. When money starts to talk, the decisions inside the pitch start to change. Let’s see in the future what will happen.
Queiroz, who also expressed his concern about what the extra games might mean for player welfare, added that he felt the World Cup qualifiers had also been devalued.
“You see in Europe … who is out of Europe in the qualification?” he asked. “So, even the qualification matches in Europe, in Africa, they start to lose significance and meaning, because everybody’s qualified in South America, most of the European teams.”
Ghana will face Colombia in the round of 32 on July 4, with the chance to play either Switzerland or Algeria in the round of 16.
The expanded format, in which 32 teams qualify for the knockout stage instead of the previous 16, has seen seven countries make it out of their respective groups for the first time.
South Africa, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Ivory Coast, Egypt, Cape Verde, DR Congo, and co-hosts Canada are all poised to make their knockout stage debuts.
The expanded format has also opened the door for smaller nations like Cape Verde, who finished second in their group ahead of Saudi Arabia and two-time champions Uruguay, to compete on football’s biggest stage.
With a population of just 525,000 smaller than any U.S. state Cape Verde have progressed to the round of 32, where they will face defending champions Argentina.
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