Original title: The football World Cup expanded to 48 teams, is there still a play for the Chinese team?
In today's world, the one who can really think about China is FIFA.
Because the Chinese football team can not enter the World Cup, FIFA has always felt quite regretful. FIFA has always wanted to pull China, but there is no reason or opportunity to open the back door for the Chinese team alone, so they can only make a fuss about expansion.
For the expansion of the 2026 World Cup to 48 teams, some Japanese media commented that FIFA's move is to open the door to China, hoping that China can enter the World Cup.
Compared to China's constant ostracism and snubs on different international occasions, FIFA's attitude towards the Chinese team is indeed unusual. So why is FIFA so fond of the Chinese team?
There are many sayings in the international football community, which can be summarized as follows:
First, China is a country with a large population, and sports activities without China's participation are not real sports. Football is the top event in sports, with the highest degree of attention, FIFA hopes to expand the capacity to allow the Chinese team to enter the World Cup, that is, to attract more people to pay attention to football. This reason is high-sounding and cannot be faulted.
Second, China is an economic power, and FIFA hopes to attract more Chinese money into football through the entry of Chinese teams into the arena. In the just-concluded Qatar World Cup, Chinese companies contributed nearly US$1.4 billion, twice as much as the previous World Cup in Russia, surpassing the US$1.1 billion of US companies, ranking first in the world. Data is the most convincing, and no one in this world can't get by with money. Why not do things that can attract money and popularity? This reason is very real, if anyone opposes, they will ask anyone to come up with a large amount of money.
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Third, leaving aside the level of the Chinese team, the overall level of Asian football is constantly improving.
The most controversial reason is this reason, the world's major teams are generally opposed, they feel that large-scale expansion will reduce the difficulty, level and viewing of football World Cup matches, and opposition will lose some fans' enthusiasm and fascination with football. But as a sports organization, we must consider not only the viewing of sports, but also the popularity of sports, not to mention the two reasons why the first two justifications can be put on the table, and the opposing opinions seem to not determine the overall situation.
According to FIFA's expansion policy in 2026, the number of World Cup places in Asia will increase from the current 4.5 to 8.5, making Asia the region that will benefit the most from this expansion policy.
FIFA President Gianni Infantino, a staunch supporter of the expansion policy, is well aware of the opposition of the big football teams, so he has long prepared his statement: "The level of Asian football is not low. At the World Cup in Qatar, three AFC teams from Japan, South Korea and Australia advanced to the round of 16, so Infantino was very happy to say: "It was exactly what I expected. ”
It seems that FIFA's expansion is unstoppable, and it is only a matter of time before Chinese football enters the World Cup.
It's just that people who are not optimistic about the Chinese team do not take this as an opportunity to encourage the Chinese team, but continue to pour cold water on the Chinese team. There is a downbeat argument that the Chinese team has been on the verge of promotion over the years, and the more places FIFA gives to Asia, the faster the Chinese team will decline. For example, when there were only two places in Asia, the Chinese team ranked third and fourth; When there are four spots in Asia, the Chinese team relegates to fifth, sixth, and sometimes further; If the Asian quota is increased to eight, the Chinese team may retreat to outside the top ten.
This sounds really harsh, but the current ranking of the Chinese team in Asia is indeed around ten.
This is only from the perspective of game results, the deep-seated problems of Chinese football are far more than the results of the game. At present, the national discipline inspection and supervision department and relevant provinces and cities are jointly investigating and dealing with the Chinese Football Association, and the shady curtain of Chinese football will be completely revealed. Perhaps only the Chinese football team, which has changed its heart and mind, will no longer live up to the expectations of the Chinese people and the world?