Ghana manager Carlos Queiroz has criticized the World Cup’s extension to 48 countries, citing concern that the move will convert it into a “vulgar, ordinary competition.”
Queiroz’s comments follow an unparalleled performance by African teams at the competition, with nine of the ten countries, including Ghana, progressing to the next round.
The Portuguese coach addressed a news conference following Ghana’s 2-1 loss to Croatia on Saturday, which qualified the Black Stars for the knockout stage as one of the group stage’s eight best third-placed teams.
“I do believe that what really has huge value, huge and significant value, is [that which] is rare,” Quieroz said. “I’ve never seen in my life common things, ordinary things that come with huge value.
“So, the number of teams that qualify for the World Cup, I am afraid that it can turn this competition into a vulgar, ordinary competition. … With so many teams qualifying for the World Cup, I think the value of the competition comes from it being rare to be in the World Cup. It’s, in my opinion, still debatable. I need to see. It’s one opinion that is based on my personal feeling.”
The former Portugal and Real Madrid manager, who made his views known despite the fact that Ghana would have been eliminated for finishing third in their group in prior years, went on to claim that he believed the decision to expand the competition was motivated by money.
“Today, money talks,” he said. “In the game, money talks. This is called not “football” but “moneyball.” When money starts to talk, the decisions inside the pitch start to change. Let’s see in the future what will happen.”
Queiroz, who was also concerned about the extra games’ impact on player welfare, stated that he felt the World Cup qualifiers had been undervalued.
“You see in Europe … who is out of Europe in the qualification?” he asked. “So, even the qualification matches in Europe, in Africa, they start to lose significance and meaning because everybody’s qualified—in South America, most of the European teams.”
Ghana will face Colombia in the round of 32 on July 4, with the option of facing either Switzerland or Algeria in the round of 16.
The expanded format, in which 32 teams instead of 16 qualify for the knockout stage, has seen seven countries advance from their respective groups for the first time.
South Africa, Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Ivory Coast, Egypt, Cape Verde, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and co-hosts Canada will all make their knockout stage debuts.
The new structure has also enabled smaller teams, such as Cape Verde, which placed second in their group ahead of Saudi Arabia and two-time winners Uruguay, the opportunity to play on the largest platform.
Cape Verde has a population of 525,000, which is smaller than all 50 states in the United States, but they have advanced to the round of 32, where they will face defending champions Argentina.
