Former England international striker Gary Lineker has sent a scathing message to FIFA after what he described as "the greatest group stage in World Cup history."
The group stages of the 2022 tournament in Qatar concluded on Friday, with Brazil and Switzerland booking their place in the knockout section of the competition.
What preceded Friday's action was an enthralling final round of group fixtures, with nations like Japan, South Korea and Morocco progressing in dramatic fashion. Traditional World Cup forces like Germany, Belgium and Uruguay were eliminated too.
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As things stand, the 2026 edition of the tournament will not cater for similar chaos. That's because the competition is being expanded 48 teams and to 16 groups of three teams. As a result, it will be impossible to play two matches concurrently, something that has been crucial to the drama in 2022.
And Lineker - a former World Cup Golden Boot winner - made his feelings clear in a social media post on Friday night.
"The greatest group stage in World Cup history comes to an end," he said. "At present It won’t be repeated at the next World Cup as the current plan is not to have simultaneous final group games. 16 groups of 3 in 2026.
"I think they must have a rethink. With 2 teams qualifying, imagine how many groups will be settled by a draw/convenient result in the final game."
The knockout stages start on Saturday with the Netherlands taking on the United States, while England are in action on Sunday against Senegal.
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