FIFA today drew a sharp rebuke from Carlos Queiroz after Ghana moved on from Group L under the 48-team World Cup format. He said the expansion had stripped rarity and value from the tournament, even as Ghana stayed alive and reached the round of 32 with Colombia ahead.
Carlos Queiroz on FIFA
Queiroz told reporters after Ghana’s progression that the tournament had become “something vulgar and ordinary.” He added: “I believe that value comes when things are rare. When so many teams can qualify, is the value still rare? That would seem debatable to me but it is only my opinion.”
He was even blunter about the wider system. “The real success now in South America would be in not qualifying,” he said. “Who did not qualify in Europe? The qualification tournaments start to lose their significance if everyone qualifies. Qualification should be serious, it should be very tough, very competitive.”
Ghana and Group L
Ghana finished third in Group L behind England and Croatia, then ranked among the eight best third-place finishers to advance. Four years ago, Queiroz said, that same finish would have sent Ghana home. This time it sent the Black Stars into a round of 32 tie with Colombia.
The format shift is bigger than Ghana alone. Africa gained four additional automatic qualifying spots and one inter-confederation playoff spot under the expansion, and DR Congo won that playoff to lift the number of African qualifiers to 10. The article says Africa was the biggest beneficiary of the change, while qualification was once ultra-competitive but became more straightforward for most heavyweights this time.
World Cup expansion
The core contradiction sits in plain view: Ghana benefited from the expanded World Cup at the same time its manager argued the format had cheapened the event. Queiroz said the World Cup should be “something with meaning and significance,” and that it should be rare.
Whether FIFA answers that criticism is the next issue hanging over the tournament. For Ghana, the practical payoff is already set: the path continues in the round of 32, and the new structure has turned a third-place finish into survival.
