Sublime to ridiculous: The money-grabbing move that helps Socceroos, but could destroy the greatest show on earth

A few months ago, Lionel Messi stood with the World Cup aloft, the fitting end to a magical tournament by one of the game’s greatest players.

The Socceroos had exceeded expectations by facing Messi’s Argentina in the second round, and running them an Emi Martinez wonder save away from extra time.

The Australians’ whole qualifying campaign and finals appearance was a slog – a series of desperate encounters and demonstrations of Aussie DNA that kept us on edge and thrilled to the final whistle in Qatar. Graham Arnold never got a free ride to the finals and that made his achievement so much the better.

In a sport where wealthy-beyond-belief nation states can allegedly get away with rorting the rules for a decade and everyone just oohs and aahs at Erling Haaland’s five goals (100 charges? Nothing to see here), or where greedy owners decide to launch a Super League without consultation with their disgusted fans, it’s a little late and naive to bemoan the loss of football’s soul to the money men.

But on they march in the relentless pursuit of loot over commonsense.

FIFA has already increased the number of teams for the 2026 World Cup to 48 from 32. This is seen as good news for the Socceroos – with extra qualification spots now available to Asia meaning it’s hard to see how Australia could ever miss out on the finals.

On the other hand, the virtual finals rubber stamp strips away the stakes that the Socceroos play for through those sweaty games in the Middle East or in front of a heaving pack of Blue Samurai fans.

Having stripped away the excitement from the biggest teams in each confederation, FIFA has taken yet another insidious step to dilute the excitement of the world’s greatest sporting event.

In a move that reminds of the 2007 Cricket World Cup – widely acknowledged as a disaster after stretching 47 days and having four stages – FIFA has added an astonishing 40 EXTRA games to the 2026 edition.

Much like they back flipped on a summer World Cup in Qatar after that dodgy vote, FIFA has decided against going with 16 pools of three teams in the US, Canada and Mexico. That would have seen 80 matches – a step up on the 64 that ended Argentina lifting the trophy in Qatar.

In 2026 there will be a staggering 104 games – with quality diluted and – much like a Rugby World Cup – many mismatches along the way. And just like the RWC we’re looking now at six week tournament instead of four.

“The revised format mitigates the risk of collusion and ensures that all the teams play a minimum of three matches, while providing balanced rest time between competing teams,” said FIFA in a statement.

So it’s to give players – already smashed on every front possible by the money men – more rest?

Of course it’s not.

For starters, the change will add about 1.5 million more tickets. More money can be demanded from rights holders and ‘partners’. FIFA is projecting a record revenue of at least $A16 billion.

The World Cup in Qatar last year had 64 matches completed in 29 days. This time there will be 72 matches in the group stage alone. The finalists will play eight games, instead of the six in Qatar and in World Cup since it went from 24 to 32 teams in 1998.

The issue has caused strained relations between FIFA president Gianni Infantino and Europe’s leading clubs, with some threatening to refuse to release players for upcoming internationals.

And the players’ union Fifpro last week revealed that the Qatar World Cup’s scheduling left players at heightened risk of injury.

There is already a relentless onslaught of games – Liverpool’s Luis Diaz played 69 times in 2021-22 for club and country – the second highest number in the world. He’s now suffering a long term injury.

With two months of the season left, Manchester United’s Bruno Fernandes has already racked up 49 matches (no wonder he’s always shitty and likes a lie down in the middle of games).

Stacking 40 more games onto a World Cup schedule won’t raise the quality.

It won’t raise the excitement – especially through routine qualification campaigns. It won’t help players stay healthy to perform the way they want, and we want to see them.

It will do one thing – the only thing that matters to FIFA, after all.