How To Make The World Cup Interesting Again

 

The world cup in my view has gotten so dull and boring, and i think that the reason for this is simple. The problem isnt the finals, as they usally throw up a few decent games. but its the qualiyfing tournaments that are played all around the world.

 

Here's my radical thought!

 

Why not make the qualifying an open grouping. This could be worked on fairly easy way. With the lowest ranked teams playing games against lowly ranked countries from other parts of the world, and then progressing through to where they will meet higher placed teams. Playing matches until, you get the top 24 countries to play the tournament in the same format that its currently played in.

 

The reason why i said that the finals are good, is this. You get to see countries play against your own that you dont see in qualifying for the 2nd tournament in whatever region of the world that your in.

 

In my case in England, I would prefer to see England play a real match against a team from Africa or South Amercia, and you only get to see this kind of match in the group stages of the world cup finals. But if the qualifing tournament was played on a open basis. England could well be placed ina group with say the USA, Mexico or Senegal, as there all fairly evenly together in FIFAs rankings.

 

The bottam teams would start off by playing each other, and would progress through to the latter stages of qualifing, kind of like the Inter Toto Cup.

 

I this idea isnt a good one, im sure that most British fans would prefer that the home nations would be put in a group together, and would have one qualifier and then one in the play offs. As we all used to enjoy watching the home championships. as these games meant something to us, and its much more entertaining watching England play Scotland, wales, N Ireland or or the Rep Ireland, than to sit through a game against San Marino, Finland, Croatia or the team that we always seem to get drawn against Poland!

 

Im not sure where the All Whites currently rank, but it must be down the mid 100s, and there would better games out there for them against lowly ranked European teams, that would maybe bring in more fans than the game against a very small island nation somwhere in the south pacific.

 

I know this will get right up the Kiwi's noses, but the game in aussie has gone mad, and the sucesses of the Socceroos, are really making a huge difference in the way the people see the game, and the Aussies would now back themselves against several of the Europe's more established football playing countries. But fans want competitve games, not freindlies dressed up with some old pros name, with a cup the size of the European Cup. they want to win there regional championships, the European Championship, The Copa Amercia, The African Cup of Nations etc, and the only other prize is the world cup, and not to many teams have won that, or in my view could win it.

 

So change the qualifyfing format Mr Platini or Mr Blatter, as you have to do something to make international football intresting again, and dont just reley on the World Cup Finals to save it for you.