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Beijing time June 17, the World Cup group stage in the USA, Canada, and Mexico continues.
The title contenders France and Argentina both played their first matches, winning smoothly against their respective opponents Senegal and Algeria, securing a good start in the group stage.
This World Cup is the first to feature 48 teams. The significant expansion of this World Cup has been controversial from the start until now.
"Has the World Cup been watered down?" is a frequent comment on the international football scene and social media after the event was revealed. Some believe that expanding the tournament allows more average-level teams to participate, and the gap in strength between these teams and the top teams is huge, which may lead to many one-sided matches, reducing the entertainment and competitiveness of the games.
Too many "weak teams" participating could turn the World Cup into a stage of "amateurs fighting," losing its unique charm as a top global football event and negatively impacting the brand value of the World Cup.
UEFA President Ceferin openly stated before the opening of this World Cup that due to expansion, there are many completely boring matches, "I think expanding the World Cup in this way is meaningless."
Italian football legend Colovatti was even more blunt, saying that some qualifying teams have poor competitive levels, and FIFA's expansion move is "absurd."
After expansion, the World Cup schedule has been significantly extended.
The tournament duration increased from 29 days to 39 days, spanning 16 cities across three North American countries.
The number of matches for the title-contending teams increased from 7 to 8.
For players who have just finished a long club season, this means greater physical load, higher fatigue accumulation, and more severe injury risks.
According to reports, England even used GPS performance tracking technology for the first time to monitor players' physical loads in real-time.
In addition, the high qualification rate in the group stage after expansion has diminished the tension of "life-and-death" matches in previous World Cups.
During the "32-team era," only 2 teams from each group of 4 advanced, and the last round of group matches often determined qualification, with intense competition and tactical battles.
In this tournament, the group stage adopts a "four out of two" format, which...