FOXBOROUGH, MA — FIFA looked across the Atlantic Ocean every March as college basketball teams competed in the “madness” that is the NCAA Tournament and felt that twinge of jealousy every other sports entity does.
FIFA being FIFA, the governing body simply said … gimme that.
Thus, the expanded 48-team format that debuted at the 2026 World Cup became reality. Purists puked. Traditionalists teased.
But what was at its core a money-grab by FIFA – simply, more programming equals more money – has turned into the best part of the tournament. More exciting matches with more at stake in each one is the most ideal unintended consequence FIFA could have asked for.
The fans have benefited, too. Maybe even the most. More high-quality soccer between world-class national teams certainly ain't a bad thing. Netherlands-Morocco would have been an otherworldly quarterfinal or semifinal within the past decade. For the two teams to meet this early in the tournament is a treat.
My heart crumbles at the thought of expanding the NCAA tournament. But the World Cup? Let’s add some teams for the 2027 women’s World Cup, also in the U.S. Maybe truer soccer fans than me don’t buy growing the pie no matter which way you slice it. The key to fully enjoying expansion is understanding three harsh truths:
- 1) the cost for fans to attend in person — fans would rather not say when I ask — is preposterous, and usually coupled with logistic and transportation stress
- 2) the United States is behaving badly on the world stage while hosting an event and treating a political adversary with disdain,
- this tournament is a long and expensive — 5.5 weeks by the time that final whistle blows at MetLife Stadium on July 19 — in both tax dollars and public resources.
If you thought that 32 of those 48 teams making it through to the knockout stage would dilute the product and create some lopsided round of 32 or round of 16 matches, well, you didn’t see what happened here Monday at Gillette Stadium between Paraguay and Germany.
Paraguay, which made a run to the quarterfinals in 2010 but otherwise has been a non-factor on the international stage this century, took Germany – a perennial powerhouse despite back-to-back early exits – to penalty kicks ... and won. Hours later, Morocco was staring down defeat when Issa Diop scored in the first minute of stoppage time at the end of regulation to cap an exciting Monday.
More heroes. More underdogs (looking at you, Cape Verde). Más divertido.
That all came on the back of a Japan-Brazil match won by the Brazilians in extra time of regulation after they went down 1-0 in the first half. Sound familiar? Watching a pair of powerhouses – nine World Cup titles between the two countries – in back-to-back viewing windows being pushed to the brink with four full rounds of play to go is high-quality sporting theater.
Canada’s game-winning goal against South Africa in the first round of 32 matchup on Sunday also came in stoppage time. It’s a small sample size, but so far, so good – which has been an accurate way to describe the entire tournament, from the play on the pitch to the overall reception in North America and its implementation here.
Let’s not forget that FIFA’s greed and unending desire for universal sporting domination opened the door to this. If they’re going to cash the checks, though, we might as well have the fun. Maybe reaping what has been sown – those hydration breaks still irk everybody, understandably so – doesn't have to be like taking medicine.
Had these endings happened in the group stage, it would have definitely been exciting – make no mistake. But the difference between advancing and going home, between dreams realized and crushed, is the ultimate sports drama. Creating more matchups in which those are the stakes is a feeling Americans cherish thanks to March Madness. Welcome to the madness, rest of the world.
Source: USA Today
