https://www.nytimes.com/2018/06/11/...enjoy-this-one.html?smtyp=cur&smid=tw-nytimes
Why Groups of 3 Will Ruin the World Cup (So Enjoy This One)
Unless FIFA changes course, the risk of collusion will be much higher in future Cups.
Image
A new format with 48 teams, starting in 2026 but possibly as soon as the next World Cup, raises a serious fairness issue in the chase for the World Cup trophy.CreditAlexander Zemlianichenko/Associated Press
By Julien Guyon
June 11, 2018
65
If you’re a World Cup aficionado, you may want to take the time to savor this one, because it may be the last version with a format — groups of four teams — that has a fair and consistently exciting opening phase.
The new opening format — two teams advancing from groups of three in an expanded 48-team field in 2026, and possibly as soon as the next World Cup in 2022 — raises a very serious issue: The risk of collusion will be much higher.
In many cases, the two teams playing the last game in the group will know exactly what results will let them both advance to the knockout stage — at the expense of the third team of the group.
A match in the 1982 World Cup in Gijón, Spain, is probably the most infamous example of World Cup collusion. In what became known as the Disgrace of Gijón, West Germany and Austria appeared to arrange a 1-0 Germany victory that would let both teams advance to the second round. The clear signs of coordination, in which little attempt was made to score in the final 80 minutes, came at the expense of Algeria, which had played its last group game against Chile the day before.
Why Groups of 3 Will Ruin the World Cup (So Enjoy This One)
Unless FIFA changes course, the risk of collusion will be much higher in future Cups.
Image
A new format with 48 teams, starting in 2026 but possibly as soon as the next World Cup, raises a serious fairness issue in the chase for the World Cup trophy.CreditAlexander Zemlianichenko/Associated Press
By Julien Guyon
June 11, 2018
65
If you’re a World Cup aficionado, you may want to take the time to savor this one, because it may be the last version with a format — groups of four teams — that has a fair and consistently exciting opening phase.
The new opening format — two teams advancing from groups of three in an expanded 48-team field in 2026, and possibly as soon as the next World Cup in 2022 — raises a very serious issue: The risk of collusion will be much higher.
In many cases, the two teams playing the last game in the group will know exactly what results will let them both advance to the knockout stage — at the expense of the third team of the group.
A match in the 1982 World Cup in Gijón, Spain, is probably the most infamous example of World Cup collusion. In what became known as the Disgrace of Gijón, West Germany and Austria appeared to arrange a 1-0 Germany victory that would let both teams advance to the second round. The clear signs of coordination, in which little attempt was made to score in the final 80 minutes, came at the expense of Algeria, which had played its last group game against Chile the day before.