Wenger please be honest about the big World Cup

Before the draw, the strongest defender of the “inflated” World Cup was Arsene Wenger, FIFA’s director of global football development. He once again affirmed that increasing the number of teams “does not reduce the quality of the tournament”. But the question that needs to be asked now is very simple: is Wenger telling the truth, or is he just playing the role of defending FIFA’s policy when the truth is completely the opposite?

Wenger is mistaken

Mechanically, without the need for complex analysis, everyone understands that as the number of teams increases, the quality decreases. Top-level football has always been a story of elite competition, matches between the top teams. Neutral fans were indifferent to matches between teams outside the top 20 of FIFA when the World Cup expanded to 32 teams in 1998.

Now, they have even more reason to ignore the emergence of confrontations that many have never heard of. Ask how the global audience will actually be excited about Haiti vs. Cape Verde, when most of them even have to look up a map to find out where the two countries are. FIFA says 48 teams is “fair” because it gives more federations a chance to participate, but audiences want quality rather than volume.

The 16-0 "destruction" of U17 Morocco against New Caledonia at the U17 Finals with 48 teams.

Wenger cited the U17 World Cup as evidence that 48 teams would still compete, but the reality was proof of the opposite. At the 2025 U17 World Cup, the first FIFA tournament to be held with 48 teams, a series of matches that resembled the preliminary round appeared. Germany beat El Salvador 7-0, Argentina and Belgium also defeated Fiji 7-0, and most notably, U17 Morocco's 16-0 "destruction" of New Caledonia, a scoreline not unlike a lopsided match in the preliminary round.

Such results are not “exceptions” but the inevitable consequence of FIFA over-expanding the playing field. These are the matches that make viewers not want to turn on the TV, making the group stage a formality until the real strong teams meet.

FIFA should see these numbers as a wake-up call, but instead of looking for ways to adjust, they continue to promote the “48-team Super World Cup” and even aim to increase it to 64 teams in the 2030 World Cup. The question is: is FIFA for football, or just for commercial expansion?

The answer is obvious: FIFA wants to maximize money and profits, not focus on the quality of the tournament.

Respected Wenger, but this statement is regrettable

Arsene Wenger, one of the most brilliant and respected minds in world football, finds himself in a difficult position. As a senior technical advisor, he cannot challenge FIFA. But in good conscience, he should be issuing gentle warnings, rather than using his prestige to defend a paradox.

Statements like “48 teams are still qualified because they have qualified through regional qualifiers” are fine in theory, but are completely divorced from reality. Qualifying in a weak region does not demonstrate global competitiveness. A top team in Oceania or the Caribbean is not on the same level as a fifth-placed team in Europe, yet FIFA wants to put them on the same stage and call it “equalization”.

It is not a football philosophy, but a political philosophy, which federations always use to buy support from the majority of their members. And the fact that Wenger, who has been famous for fighting for the purity, rationality and aesthetics of football, has changed his argument to defend FIFA is disappointing to many people. He used to demand the highest standards at Arsenal, from the quality of the players to the playing surface. Now he is saying that 16-0 games are still "normal" or "acceptable".

Wenger should stand by the fans

Fans around the world are not necessarily against expanding the World Cup. It is reasonable to give smaller football nations a chance to feel respected. But there must be limits.

When a playing field is too large, the essence will be diluted, the group stage will drag on, meaningless matches will increase, players' fitness will be eroded and finally, the value of the World Cup, the biggest tournament on the planet, will decrease. The most important thing is that FIFA knows this, the federations know this and Wenger certainly knows this.

So what fans need to hear from Wenger is not more rhetoric defending policy, but a sincere voice that football needs to strike a balance between development and preserving quality. Otherwise, the 2026 World Cup will go down in history not for its greatness, but for its "megalomania" and "hypertrophy".

Source: https://znews.vn/xin-wenger-hay-noi-that-long-ve-world-cup-dai-phinh-post1608616.html