…stakeholders cry out
It is almost certain that in 2026, the world will witness a great expansion in global football event as FIFA World Cup is expected to take a new dimension with the proposed 48-team format. But football buffs in Nigeria are skeptical about the success story of the 23rd World Cup which FIFA has yet to determine where it would eventually hold.
The bidding process was due to have started two years ago, with the appointment of hosts previously scheduled for the FIFA Congress on May 9,2017 in Manama, Bahrain.
On June 10, 2015, FIFA announced the postponement of the bidding process, and said that it would resume in 2020, amid corruption allegations surrounding the 2018 edition in Russia, as well as in 2022 event billed for Qatar.
The 2026 tournament will be the first to feature 48 teams, after FIFA approved expansion from 32 teams in January 2017.
The plan was proposed by Gianni Infantino, FIFA’s president, as part of his campaign strategies when he was vying for the world’s top post. He wanted a new identity and for his administration and new concept for the FIFA World Cup.
Top Football followers like the former Gombe State Football Association, Alhaji Gara Gombe, Dr Tijani Yusuf, former Nigeria Football Federation Secretary-General, and former FIFA/CAF instructor, Chief Adegboye Onigbinde, shared different views about the format which would give Africa only nine slots.
In the latest proposal, it was resolved that Asia with 45-member countries, would have eight slots, while Africa with 53 countries would produce nine World Cup competitors. CONCACAF, comprising North, Central America and Caribean will have six slots.
CONMEBOL with just team members from South America Football Confederation, will also produce six slots. UEFA which is Europe has the largest slots of 16 with its 55 members, as Oceania Football Federation has only one slot. Gara Gombe said the sharing formula was unacceptable, saying that the continent deserved more than nine slots. “Rubbish! This is absolutely unacceptable.
Africa needs 12 slots not nine because Europe has more slots than other continent. With 53 countries and the advancement of African football in global perspectives, FIFA should give Africa more slots. If UEFA with 55 gets 16, why should Africa with 53 get 9? It is injustice. Africa has no voice yet.
How could Africa make impact in the World Cup when there are no opportunities to do so,” Gombe told The Point Evaluating African teams performances in recent times, he said Senegal,Ghana, Cameroon, Nigeria,and Algeria are still leading the pack. Their previous performances at the World Cup, raised Africa’s ratings since the inception of the competition.
CAMEROON
According to the FIFA Technical report on World Cup, Cameroon’s Indomitable Lions have done much to put African football on the map. In their debut world finals appearance at Spain 1982, the Indomitable Lions acquitted themselves well, playing out goalless stalemates with Peru and Poland and holding eventual tournament winners Italy to a 1-1 draw, though it was not enough to prevent them going out in the group phase. Eight years later in Italy the Cameroonians put together a ground-breaking run, beating defending champions Argentina in the Opening Match and going on to become the first African side to reach the quarter-finals, thanks in no small part to Roger Milla’s finishing skills.
Cameroon have struggled on the big stage since then, however, succumbing to first-round exits at USA 1994, France 1998, Korea/Japan 2002, South Africa 2010 and Brazil 2014. They also suffered an agonising failure in the preliminaries for Germany 2006, missing a stoppage-time penalty in the final and decisive qualifier against Egypt, a miss that cost them a place at the finals.
SENEGAL
The 2002 FIFA World Cup Korea/ Japan remains a high water mark for Senegalese football. Qualifying for the tournament for the first time at the expense of African heavyweights such as Morocco, Egypt and Algeria was already viewed as a considerable achievement, but their subsequent run to the quarter-finals exceeded the expectations of all but the most fervent Senegalese supporters.
After upsetting holders France (1-0) in the opening match, the Lions of Teranga drew 1-1 and 3-3 with Denmark and Uruguay respectively to advance to the Round of 16. Bruno Metsu’s men then defeated Sweden (2-1) to set up a quarter-final clash with Turkey, in which they lost out to an extra-time golden goal.
GHANA
Despite being one of Africa’s giants, Ghana did not qualify for the World Cup until 2006, but since then they have made it three on the bounce. In their debut, they reached the Round of 16 and did one better at South Africa 2010 – where they were eliminated in heartbreaking fashion by Luis Suarez and Uruguay on the brink of a historic semi-final spot. They thrashed Egypt to qualify for the the last World Cup but disappointingly lost two out of three matches in Brazil.
NIGERIA
Nigeria had featured in five FIFA World Cup finals with impressive outings in 1994 in America and France 1998. Although, the sub-region giants couldn’t go beyond the second round, but their performances could not be compared with the 2002 in Korea/Japan, South Africa 2010 and Brazil 2014.
Nigeria struggled in the 2014 finals under the late coach Stephen Keshi. They managed to beat fancied Bosnia and Herzegovina before showing well in narrow defeats to eventual finalists Argentina and France. But the most populous nation in Africa always has high expectations, and they have had their eye on a first-ever African spot in the semi-finals for some time.
ALGERIA
Algeria has appeared at four FIFA World Cups, including Brazil 2014 where they reached the knockout stage for the first time – representing their greatest performance.
Across the four tournaments, they have recorded a total of three victories, two of which came at Spain 1982, against West Germany (2-1) and Chile (3-2). Les Fennecs’ third success was recorded in Brazil, where they defeated Korea Republic 4-2, becoming the first African or Arab team to score four goals at the World Cup in the process.
ASIA
Asia’s strategy to open its football to the world paid off with the new FIFA proposal to increase the continent’s slot from four to eight behind Africa. Asian football chief, Shaikh Salman Bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa, lauded the continent’s proposed allocation, saying it was “a fair distribution”. All regions will see an increase in their allocation for the 2026 finals while there will also be a six team play-off to decide the final two spots, meaning the possibility of Asia getting a ninth team qualified.
Shaikh Salman said the increased allocation would “aid development of the game in Asia”.
FIFA may not place everything on the performances of African teams at the previous World Cup championships. They may have other things they are looking at that people may not know. but I know that they will consider the impact of African teams in the World Cup
ONIGBINDE
But former Super Eagles chief coach, chief Adegboye Onigbinde, had described the 48-team format for the 2026 FIFA World Cup as a big challenge to the African teams.
Onigbinde, a former FIFA and CAF technical instructor, said the 48-team format will give Nigeria and other African teams a clear opportunity to qualify and participate in the biggest global fiesta.
“In FIFA, Africa is next to Europe in terms of number and we have only five teams representing the continent at the World Cup. The new 48-team format will enhance Africa’s status and give them the desired results.
It will make African teams to work harder and fight for their rightful positions in global football,”he said.
According to Onigbinde, the format will stir-up African teams to rise up and displace the top contenders in the FIFA monthly rankings.
“People often complain about the FIFA rankings because they don’t understand how teams were rated. You cannot beat lowly rated team 8-0 and expect FIFA to rate you high. It is only when a country beat a highly rated side that FIFA will increase its ranking. The format will in no doubt challenge African teams to upstage any team across the world,”he said.
TIJANI YUSUF
The former NFF scribe has a d i f f e r e n t view on the slot allocation, he said FIFA may have considered the level of football development in Africa and the political strength of African football and standard o f African teams “ FIFA may not place everything on the performances of African teams at the previous World Cup championships. They may have other things they are looking at that people may not know but I know that they will consider the impact of African teams in the World Cup. The turn out of fans into the stadium when an African team is playing. The awareness of football development in Africa. The beauty of African teams and how far they have been able to go in the championships,”he said.
According to Dr Yusuf, FIFA will still consider so many options before the format is approved in May, as the proposal is currently under serious scrutiny.
LOGISTICS
Apart from the Africa’s appearances, football buffs are still wondering how a country will be able to host 48 teams successfully without any serious hitch. The tournament will open with a group stage consisting of 16 groups of 3 teams, with the top 2 teams progressing from each group to a knockout tournament starting with a round of 32 teams.The number of games played overall will increase from 64 to 80, but the number of games played by finalists remains at 7, the same as with 32 teams, except that one group match will be replaced by a knockout match. The tournament will also be completed within 32 days, same as previous 32-team tournaments.
EUROPE OPPOSES
European teams have won the World Cup severally and they still have the highest number of participants but the proposal for expansion has been opposed by the European Clubs Association and its member clubs, saying that the number of games are too many as they urged FIFA to reconsider its idea of increasing the number of teams that qualify. Europe with 55 countries will get 16 slots in the proposed arrangement.
German national team coach, Joachim Löw warned that expansion, as had occurred for Euro 2016, would dilute the value of the world tournament because players have already reached their physical and mental limit.
Another criticism of the new format is that with 3-team groups, the risk of collusion between the two teams playing in the last round will increase compared with 4-team groups (where simultaneous kick-offs have been employed). One suggestion by FIFA President, Gianni Infantino is that group matches that end in draws will be decided by penalty shootouts.
BIDDING PROCESS
A CONCACAF bid for the 2026 World Cup is probable, with Canada, USA, and Mexico the most likely nations to bid. Under FIFA rules as of 2016, the 2026 World Cup cannot be in either Europe (UEFA) or Asia (AFC), leaving an African (CAF) bid, a North American (CONCACAF) bid, a South American (CONMEBOL) bid or an Oceania (OFC) bid as other possible options.
In March 2017, FIFA confirmed that “Europe (UEFA) and Asia (AFC) are excluded from the bidding following the selection of Russia and Qatar in 2018 and 2022 respectively.” According to CONCACAF president, Victor Montagliani, there would be a possibility of a joint bid between the United States, Canada and Mexico to host the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
