FIFA can take lessons from many things in this World Cup.
But one they must learn from is the drama, the excitement and last gasp tension of the Group stages. The final round of Group matches were truly special.
Spain against Japan, Germany going out and at one stage Costa Rica were on course to qualify from Group E.
South Korea’s dramatic win against Portugal to go through. Poland were 30 seconds away from having their World Cup fate decide on yellow cards before edging through ahead of Mexico on goal difference thanks to a late consolation from Saudi Arabia.
And yet, incredibly, FIFA have been looking at scrapping the current system for the next World Cup which will be expanded to 48 teams when US, Mexico and Canada co-host the tournament in 2026.
The current plan is to have 16 Groups of three teams, more fixtures and, clearly, they will look to a system which means more heavyweight clashes in the knock-out rounds.
But there is growing talk that FIFA may yet review that system and, while no final decision is expected until next year, they must keep the current format.
It would be such a shame to detract from something that has worked so well this time. Why fix it if it’s not broken?
The great thing about this tournament is the less fancied nations are clearly making up ground on the traditional, established football power houses.
Just look at Japan. They beat Spain and Germany, topped their Group and reached the knock-out stages. Who would begrudge Australia their adventure? It was a fabulous story and they so nearly took Argentina to extra time after staging a late rally.
These are the stories which make the World Cup special. There have been less dead rubbers in the Group stages this time and that is what the new format sets out to avoid.
Each game matters and there’s more matches, more revenue and more games to sell to the TV stations and fans in the stadiums.
But we’d still get more games with a four team Group and, with lesser nations closing the gap, the last thing we need to do is fix it in favour of the big guns.
There has been so much controversy in this World Cup. Quite rightly, FIFA have taken a battering for bringing it to Qatar for the migrant workers controversy and the issues surrounding the LGBTQ community.
They have a lot of soul searching to do on so many levels. And they must also make sure they do not dilute the football.
