uau

jeezus fucking christ, fifa

48 countries in the world cup final?

why have qualifiers. just put 200+ countries in already

and give everyone machetes to make the injury process go faster why don't you

fucking money grubbers...

It's an absolute joke. It's now going to be a load of boring ass matches with the odd great game, as opposed to the other way round like it should be.

It's one of them things were FIFA is so corrupt that nothing will ever change.

Dismal. Putrid. As if we didn't have enough shit games during the group stage already. FIFA's decision could have been even worse, however, if in addition they had determined to extend the number of games a team has to play in order to dispute the throne beyond seven. The beginning of the road to get there now is rather risible, though: 16 (!) groups of three (!) countries each...

If they'd made the groups bigger to accommodate the expansion, I'd hate it, but not this way. Admittedly, pre-qualification will be a bit more boring but by having 3 teams instead of 4 during the group stage it'll mean an end to those dreaded games in the final round, between two teams that can't possibly qualify to the knockout stage. It should also make teams play in a more attacking style from the beginning.

The knockout stage will look after itself, and by having more games only increase the likelihood of upsets. So the only downside for me is in pre-qualification.

Agreed. Yet I'm sure we will see groups like, say:

Germany
New Zealand
Canada

That could be an exaggeration, though, but not by much... :D

OK but given the likelihood that Germany qualify by beating New Zealand and Canada, the match between those two is gonna be absolutely epic. And Germany will be shitting bricks in their final game if they lose or even draw to either of them in the 1st match.

So this is all for good in the end?

Well apart from making the pre-qualification stage a bit more boring than usual, I can't honestly see a downside during the actual tournament itself.

yeah it looks a bit more rational upon further examination.

the group round will be shorter, which will make for a more dynamic start. no time to warm up or fuck up or test shit. 2 games & you're done.

then it's knockouts from then onwards, no holds barred. fine.

it's just the sheer number that fucks me up a little and yes, what kind of elimination will there be?

CONMEBOL has only 10 members. currently it has 4.5 spots (4 guaranteed, 1 last chance played vs. oceania or something)

with 48 spots it will end up having what-- 8?

so basically if you're a south american country you just have to put on your pants and show up.

fuck the qualifiers for 2 years then. who needs all those time wasters.

Qualification has always been a bit of a chore, this doesn't help (and I'm sure the main motivation is just to make sure that none of the big established teams fail to make it) but it has to improve the group stage at least.

it's gonna look kinda like the olympics

i hope also that there's a location for each group and none of that intercity travel bullshit with different time zones and climates and bollocky arrangements

today: vladivostok. tomorrow: petersburg

So, Payet has basically gone on strike at West Ham to force a move to ... Marseille? Arsenal? ... China? He was happy enough in the summer to sign a new mega bucks contract. Makes me sick.

lets go PATS!

Mutant Rugby fans have their own thread at http://www.sonicyouth.com/gossip/sho...=84409&page=29 .

Best bit was where Gosling nutmegged that Asian guy. Made him look so stupid.

wtf is dat

Oops wrong Thread ...

ha ha ha

i swear i thought it was a biopic about some manchester united player from the 90s or something

So now it's Diego Costa's turn to be tempted by a ludicrous offer from China (500k a week) and all the indications are that he might bite. If he does it'll send panic throughout the major European leagues. He'll be the 1st really world class player, at the peak of his career, to make the move.