11 June 26
And Then There Were Forty-Eight
The World Cup is now underway with two matches played today. This is not a World Cup I have much enthusiasm for, owing to the United States having alienated the rest of the world over the past year-and-a-half, including the other two host countries. Nevertheless, interesting storylines will emerge over the upcoming five weeks, I am sure.
Five weeks, not four as in the past. In its infinite wisdom FIFA has expanded the number of participating nations from thirty-two to forty-eight. In all likelihood this will make the group stage of the tournament less exciting since on average there is more of a range in quality from the strongest team to the weakest team in each group. FIFA may even continue in this direction: there is discussion of expanding the field to sixty teams for the 2030 World Cup which will take place in Morocco, Portugal, and Spain.
The nearby bakery will be showing the matches on a big screen outside on its patio. Pica was thinking of watching the first match there, but it was already 96° F outside at noon when it started, so that idea got nixed.
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