The Poorly Designed Current World Cup Tournament Format

[Analyst Maaz]

14 teams 2 groups of 7 over half the teams progressing to the quarter finals 42 group matches required before quarter finals 4 big teams in each group, 3 minnows, very predictable My reservations 1) Long predictable qualifying drag 2) Long qualification process for tournament that effectively is a 3 match knock out 3) Does not reward consistency in a long pool stage. You can win 6/6 yet be knocked out in QFs 4) Too many matches you can afford to lose in pool stage 5) Too many meaningless matches in pool stage Associates are needed, BUT there has to be enough to play for in the group stage such as points being carried over to the next round should teams from the same group progress, making every match of great importance knowing that points will not only be useful in getting through from the first round, but could also be applicable at a later stage in the tournament if you end up progressing i.e. 1999 and 2003 or the current Womens World Cup format in order to avoid teams playing each other again if they have already played in the 2nd round, reducing the tournament length.