| World cup expands to 48 teams on 10:43 - Jan 10 with 1640 views | BazzaInTheLoft |
Happy for Karl though! |  | |  |
| World cup expands to 48 teams on 10:48 - Jan 10 with 1623 views | CamberleyR |
Utter fúcking madness. Where does it end. 64 teams in 2036?
The amazing thing is that it wasn't one of Blatter's barmy ideas. |  |
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| World cup expands to 48 teams on 10:59 - Jan 10 with 1582 views | BazzaInTheLoft |
WC GROUP STAGE
England 0 - 0 Soloman Islands
At the Addis Addaba Stadium
KO 0400 2nd October 2026 | | | |
| World cup expands to 48 teams on 11:06 - Jan 10 with 1560 views | paulparker |
| World cup expands to 48 teams on 10:59 - Jan 10 by BazzaInTheLoft |
WC GROUP STAGE
England 0 - 0 Soloman Islands
At the Addis Addaba Stadium
KO 0400 2nd October 2026 |
sounds like a good point for us, all we would need to do is get a smash and grab win against Ethiopia to get in to the last 32
on a serious note Pinner is right this is all geared up for the Chinese to qualify and host a tournament , the World cups we all grew up on in 82,86,90 & 98 are a distant memory
football is gone I seriously hope one day the fans can get the game back but its to far gone now |  |
| And Bowles is onside, Swinburne has come rushing out of his goal , what can Bowles do here , onto the left foot no, on to the right foot
That’s there that’s two, and that’s Bowles
Brian Moore
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| World cup expands to 48 teams on 11:26 - Jan 10 with 1521 views | BerkoRanger |
Money talks. |  | | |
| World cup expands to 48 teams on 11:35 - Jan 10 with 1505 views | RickyDicky |
Apparently brings in an extra £500 million to FIFA !
Bet Blatter wishes he was still involved ! |  |
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| World cup expands to 48 teams on 11:50 - Jan 10 with 1475 views | karl |
Despite Bazza's cheap shot (!!) i don't know too many Scottish fans in favour of this either.
If you devalue the qualification groups then you spoil 2 years of football for the sake of a one month tournament and the worry of having numerous lower ranked teams playing will be the ultra defensive football it will bring, i don't blame the minnows for doing it but it isnt a spectacle. We can't rely on England losing to Iceland for our entertainment every time! |  | | |
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| World cup expands to 48 teams on 11:56 - Jan 10 with 1449 views | LongsufferingR |
| World cup expands to 48 teams on 11:50 - Jan 10 by karl |
Despite Bazza's cheap shot (!!) i don't know too many Scottish fans in favour of this either.
If you devalue the qualification groups then you spoil 2 years of football for the sake of a one month tournament and the worry of having numerous lower ranked teams playing will be the ultra defensive football it will bring, i don't blame the minnows for doing it but it isnt a spectacle. We can't rely on England losing to Iceland for our entertainment every time! |
Absolutely. As usual money trumps the sport, the fans, the meaning, the history etc. The first two weeks will be the most tedious dross to sit through, and as for the qualifiers, there will be two years of watching England win every game 4-0 , learning nothing, testing nothing and exacerbating all the problems they have experienced in tournament football for the past 50 years.
Football is dead. Well done boys. |  | | |
| World cup expands to 48 teams on 12:04 - Jan 10 with 1431 views | stowmarketrange |
FIFA also don't want just 1 country to ever host a World Cup tournament,so you can expect England to host the 2038 tournament with Malta and Cyprus.
Modern football really is rubbish. |  | | |
| World cup expands to 48 teams on 12:17 - Jan 10 with 1392 views | DWQPR |
I am seriously falling out of love with football, sick to death of the money grabbing bar stewards that are supposedly the custodians of this once great game. The Premier League is becoming a bit of a joke, the money has increased stupidly and the league is becoming less competitive in European competitions as the big clubs are now have the type of player that are only in it to get the six figure weekly pay cheque and then foxtrot Oscar off to another club to do the same or clear off to China. And in between they put in half-hearted performances on the pitch and get sent off stupidly two weeks before Xmas so that they can sit at home on Christmas day and open presents that are beyond the wealth of the average football fan.
And then you get the FA Cup 3rd Round. A great event in the football calendar thirty years ago, everyone playing their best team and most clubs dreaming of a chance of a trip to the Twin Towers for a bit of glory. And what do we have nowadays, teams like Stoke, Bournemouth and Everton who have calculated that every position in the league is more valuable financially than winning the Cup so they play the kids and clear their calendar for the run in to the end of the season. Just why bother? And the players don't care either, why should they? Playing a few extra games or having a couple of extra weeks off in the season so that they can p1ss off to Dubai for five days? No brainer really. And it is the supporter that suffers, still shelling out exorbitant amounts of cash on tickets, travel, food, drink, programmes etc.
And then there are the TV companies, Reading away this Thursday for the second season in a row. Cant wait for the time that SKY decide that this fixture should be played at 7am on a Saturday morning to encourage the viewing figures from the far east to give them the real feel of a 3pm kick off, or better still just move the whole fecking game to the Beijing Madjewski Stadium and watch the locals really confuse themselves when trying to buy their match day football shirts that look exactly the same for both clubs.
And finally now, FIFA have really gone the final mile. 32 teams was just about fine. It worked. The group stages did get a bit boring occasionally when things were decided after the second round of matches more often than not, but generally it was fine. Now 16 groups of 3! when will it become a 128 team tournament, when will they decide that club sides could also compete or countries could transfer players between countries. If granting Russia with its xenophobia, corruption, drug-cheating, crime, violence, travelling distances, timezones wasn't enough for 2018 then to play a tournament in one bloody city of sand just before Christmas 2022, whereby the workers building the venues are treated like criminals, death on the sites is a common feature and you just know that there will not be enough hotel rooms for supporters and the amount of arrests that will be made for behaving improperly, like having sex with your unmarried partner, or same-sex partner, or drinking in the open or women daring to bare their shoulders! All in the pursuit of cash, lovely cash, more cash, cash, cash, fecking cash, that will fill the coffers of those corrupt numbf ucks who control the game. Absolutely sick to death of it all.
FIFA, UEFA, The FA, just feck off. | |
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| World cup expands to 48 teams on 12:27 - Jan 10 with 1358 views | Walnut |
I could just about accept the expanse to 48 teams if the format & tournament duration worked BUT the absolute f*ckwittery about this is 3 team groups, WTF?! Dead rubbers all over the place! | | | |
| World cup expands to 48 teams on 12:31 - Jan 10 with 1340 views | bob566 |
| World cup expands to 48 teams on 12:17 - Jan 10 by DWQPR |
I am seriously falling out of love with football, sick to death of the money grabbing bar stewards that are supposedly the custodians of this once great game. The Premier League is becoming a bit of a joke, the money has increased stupidly and the league is becoming less competitive in European competitions as the big clubs are now have the type of player that are only in it to get the six figure weekly pay cheque and then foxtrot Oscar off to another club to do the same or clear off to China. And in between they put in half-hearted performances on the pitch and get sent off stupidly two weeks before Xmas so that they can sit at home on Christmas day and open presents that are beyond the wealth of the average football fan.
And then you get the FA Cup 3rd Round. A great event in the football calendar thirty years ago, everyone playing their best team and most clubs dreaming of a chance of a trip to the Twin Towers for a bit of glory. And what do we have nowadays, teams like Stoke, Bournemouth and Everton who have calculated that every position in the league is more valuable financially than winning the Cup so they play the kids and clear their calendar for the run in to the end of the season. Just why bother? And the players don't care either, why should they? Playing a few extra games or having a couple of extra weeks off in the season so that they can p1ss off to Dubai for five days? No brainer really. And it is the supporter that suffers, still shelling out exorbitant amounts of cash on tickets, travel, food, drink, programmes etc.
And then there are the TV companies, Reading away this Thursday for the second season in a row. Cant wait for the time that SKY decide that this fixture should be played at 7am on a Saturday morning to encourage the viewing figures from the far east to give them the real feel of a 3pm kick off, or better still just move the whole fecking game to the Beijing Madjewski Stadium and watch the locals really confuse themselves when trying to buy their match day football shirts that look exactly the same for both clubs.
And finally now, FIFA have really gone the final mile. 32 teams was just about fine. It worked. The group stages did get a bit boring occasionally when things were decided after the second round of matches more often than not, but generally it was fine. Now 16 groups of 3! when will it become a 128 team tournament, when will they decide that club sides could also compete or countries could transfer players between countries. If granting Russia with its xenophobia, corruption, drug-cheating, crime, violence, travelling distances, timezones wasn't enough for 2018 then to play a tournament in one bloody city of sand just before Christmas 2022, whereby the workers building the venues are treated like criminals, death on the sites is a common feature and you just know that there will not be enough hotel rooms for supporters and the amount of arrests that will be made for behaving improperly, like having sex with your unmarried partner, or same-sex partner, or drinking in the open or women daring to bare their shoulders! All in the pursuit of cash, lovely cash, more cash, cash, cash, fecking cash, that will fill the coffers of those corrupt numbf ucks who control the game. Absolutely sick to death of it all.
FIFA, UEFA, The FA, just feck off. |
good post. Will the Chinese league work. That remains to be seen. Don't forget we had the J league with lineker and some Brazilians and we've had the US spend bucket loads on beckham and co. I wouldn't say either league has threatened the premiership or la liga. We'll have to wait and see how it goes. | | | |
| World cup expands to 48 teams on 12:31 - Jan 10 with 1340 views | stowmarketrange |
| World cup expands to 48 teams on 12:27 - Jan 10 by Walnut |
I could just about accept the expanse to 48 teams if the format & tournament duration worked BUT the absolute f*ckwittery about this is 3 team groups, WTF?! Dead rubbers all over the place! |
They said that all games will finish in victory for one side or the other by penalty shoot out if it ends in a draw.As if that will stop teams losing on purpose to knock out certain countries? | | | |
| World cup expands to 48 teams on 12:42 - Jan 10 with 1311 views | DesertBoot |
Ridiculous decision. Whilst Wales, and to some extent Northern Ireland, benefited from an expanded Euros - the standard of football is most games was poor with several games ending in draws which suited those playing.
A 48 team World Cup may spring the odd surprise but uninspiring draws or ridiculously one-sided games more likely. |  |
| Wish I could be like David Watts |
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| World cup expands to 48 teams on 12:52 - Jan 10 with 1269 views | hopphoops |
| World cup expands to 48 teams on 11:50 - Jan 10 by karl |
Despite Bazza's cheap shot (!!) i don't know too many Scottish fans in favour of this either.
If you devalue the qualification groups then you spoil 2 years of football for the sake of a one month tournament and the worry of having numerous lower ranked teams playing will be the ultra defensive football it will bring, i don't blame the minnows for doing it but it isnt a spectacle. We can't rely on England losing to Iceland for our entertainment every time! |
I'm guessing Bazza was eyeing a WC place for Orkney, you'd have to fancy your chances in a group with Malawi and Guam! |  |
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| World cup expands to 48 teams on 12:55 - Jan 10 with 1259 views | ElHoop |
I haven't really got a problem with 48 teams but the 3 in a group with two qualifying is a waste of time. They might as well make it a proper knockout cup with no qualifying groups but some preliminary knockout games to get down to 64 and thereby get rid of the Gibraltars in one tie. Then let 64 go to the finals but they might go home after one game. It's exciting if your country goes to the finals and it's better to waste time watching your team than for people to be starting stupid wars and stuff. The qualifying is already a waste of time so presumably it will get even worse now. Get rid of it. |  | | |
| World cup expands to 48 teams on 13:05 - Jan 10 with 1227 views | headhoops |
| World cup expands to 48 teams on 12:17 - Jan 10 by DWQPR |
I am seriously falling out of love with football, sick to death of the money grabbing bar stewards that are supposedly the custodians of this once great game. The Premier League is becoming a bit of a joke, the money has increased stupidly and the league is becoming less competitive in European competitions as the big clubs are now have the type of player that are only in it to get the six figure weekly pay cheque and then foxtrot Oscar off to another club to do the same or clear off to China. And in between they put in half-hearted performances on the pitch and get sent off stupidly two weeks before Xmas so that they can sit at home on Christmas day and open presents that are beyond the wealth of the average football fan.
And then you get the FA Cup 3rd Round. A great event in the football calendar thirty years ago, everyone playing their best team and most clubs dreaming of a chance of a trip to the Twin Towers for a bit of glory. And what do we have nowadays, teams like Stoke, Bournemouth and Everton who have calculated that every position in the league is more valuable financially than winning the Cup so they play the kids and clear their calendar for the run in to the end of the season. Just why bother? And the players don't care either, why should they? Playing a few extra games or having a couple of extra weeks off in the season so that they can p1ss off to Dubai for five days? No brainer really. And it is the supporter that suffers, still shelling out exorbitant amounts of cash on tickets, travel, food, drink, programmes etc.
And then there are the TV companies, Reading away this Thursday for the second season in a row. Cant wait for the time that SKY decide that this fixture should be played at 7am on a Saturday morning to encourage the viewing figures from the far east to give them the real feel of a 3pm kick off, or better still just move the whole fecking game to the Beijing Madjewski Stadium and watch the locals really confuse themselves when trying to buy their match day football shirts that look exactly the same for both clubs.
And finally now, FIFA have really gone the final mile. 32 teams was just about fine. It worked. The group stages did get a bit boring occasionally when things were decided after the second round of matches more often than not, but generally it was fine. Now 16 groups of 3! when will it become a 128 team tournament, when will they decide that club sides could also compete or countries could transfer players between countries. If granting Russia with its xenophobia, corruption, drug-cheating, crime, violence, travelling distances, timezones wasn't enough for 2018 then to play a tournament in one bloody city of sand just before Christmas 2022, whereby the workers building the venues are treated like criminals, death on the sites is a common feature and you just know that there will not be enough hotel rooms for supporters and the amount of arrests that will be made for behaving improperly, like having sex with your unmarried partner, or same-sex partner, or drinking in the open or women daring to bare their shoulders! All in the pursuit of cash, lovely cash, more cash, cash, cash, fecking cash, that will fill the coffers of those corrupt numbf ucks who control the game. Absolutely sick to death of it all.
FIFA, UEFA, The FA, just feck off. |
completely agree with you DW - football and especially the people so called running it couldn't give a sh1t as long as the money keeps pouring into their troughs. 48 teams = China, no doubt the hosts for the World Cup in 2026.
Stick SKY in with FIFA, UEFA, FA all fecking useless. |  |
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| World cup expands to 48 teams on 13:07 - Jan 10 with 1218 views | OakR |
I'm ok with it. Whilst this is no doubt to an extent driven by money, there will be lots of countries coming up who are and have got better. There will not be much appetite to reduce the EU number of qualifiers, so I assume this is targeted at allowing more countries from non-EU countries getting in (that's an assumption I admit) as well as protecting EU entries.
What to do with the 64 when they get there needs work.
It's not going to be like the World Cups I grew up with in the 80s and 90s, but can't remember the last time I really enjoyed watching England in a World Cup since then really anyway. | |
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| World cup expands to 48 teams on 17:03 - Jan 10 with 1025 views | Northernr |
| World cup expands to 48 teams on 10:43 - Jan 10 by BazzaInTheLoft |
Happy for Karl though! |
"Well there'll be nerves aplenty around Hampden Park this evening Jocky as Scotland go into this crucial World Cup qualification play off against the Galapagos Islands trailing 2-1 from the first leg in the Pacific last week, who do you believe can make the difference for Olly Burke's men tonight?"
This post has been edited by an administrator |  | | |
| World cup expands to 48 teams on 17:07 - Jan 10 with 1011 views | karl |
| World cup expands to 48 teams on 17:03 - Jan 10 by Northernr |
"Well there'll be nerves aplenty around Hampden Park this evening Jocky as Scotland go into this crucial World Cup qualification play off against the Galapagos Islands trailing 2-1 from the first leg in the Pacific last week, who do you believe can make the difference for Olly Burke's men tonight?"
This post has been edited by an administrator |
Turtles? We'd struggle to beat the Easter Island statues atm!
Edit. Giant tortoises of course [Post edited 10 Jan 2017 17:21]
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| World cup expands to 48 teams on 17:20 - Jan 10 with 991 views | BazzaInTheLoft |
I'm third in line behind Jilted John and the Wrigley Sisters. | | | |
| World cup expands to 48 teams on 17:23 - Jan 10 with 979 views | hopphoops |
| World cup expands to 48 teams on 17:03 - Jan 10 by Northernr |
"Well there'll be nerves aplenty around Hampden Park this evening Jocky as Scotland go into this crucial World Cup qualification play off against the Galapagos Islands trailing 2-1 from the first leg in the Pacific last week, who do you believe can make the difference for Olly Burke's men tonight?"
This post has been edited by an administrator |
For all his positive attitude Jamie Mackie will never outrun those racing snakes. | |
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| World cup expands to 48 teams on 17:27 - Jan 10 with 971 views | FredManRave |
| World cup expands to 48 teams on 17:07 - Jan 10 by karl |
Turtles? We'd struggle to beat the Easter Island statues atm!
Edit. Giant tortoises of course [Post edited 10 Jan 2017 17:21]
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The away leg would be tricky but if you could keep them down to a just a couple of goals then the return leg at home, assuming the statues are inmovable, should give you a chance. |  |
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