Did the expanded 48-team World Cup deliver? Yes, but let’s stop here

For me, this World Cup will be remembered for a few names.

Not Cristiano Ronaldo’s, or Lionel Messi’s, both of whom I watched back to back in 24 hours during a near three-week stint reporting on the ground in North America.

In Philadelphia, before Brazil’s encounter with Haiti, I met Noah Aurelien. The 23-year-old wore a kit with Haiti midfielder Jean-Ricner Bellegarde’s name. His grandparents fled political unrest for Canada, and he spoke with pride about his nation being at a World Cup.

In Kansas City, Missouri, I chatted with bespectacled Curacaoan reporter Carl Ruiter. He told me he was in dreamland just by being at the World Cup. A few hours later, his spectacles were fogged up by his tears, so moved he was by what his team had achieved on the pitch, earning a historic first point of the tournament.

In Houston, I met Congolese supporters of all ages, from an excited 14-year-old seeing his national team for the first time to Styve Mbuyi, in his 30s, who was resplendent in his blue DR Congo kit, enthusiastically naming almost every player in the squad and explaining why he was proud of each one.

And of course, we all dreamt with Cape Verde, the tiny African island who stole our hearts.

The truth is, without a 48-team World Cup, these were the teams, colours, stories, journeys and unforgettable moments the tournament would have been deprived of.

In any World Cup, critical voices are always loudest before the event, but once it kicks off, football takes over with its unique ability to bring people together and inspire us with magical moments on the pitch.

By that measure alone, the expanded World Cup has been a resounding success.

The June 11-July 19 World Cup in the United States, Mexico and Canada featured a record 48 teams from six confederations. Sixteen more nations got the chance to compete this time, with Africa and Asia the main beneficiaries.

Africa sent a record 10 teams, double the five it was allotted in the previous 32-team format, and nine (save Tunisia) went on to qualify for the knockout phase.

And it produced several underdog triumphs.

We saw unfancied Ghana hold England, and advance to the knockout rounds.

We saw Cape Verde hold Spain, Uruguay and Argentina – three countries who have combined to win six World Cups – to draws in 90 minutes.

We saw DR Congo, in their first World Cup since 1974, hold Portugal and push Colombia and England to their limits.

Elsewhere, we saw Concacaf qualifier Curacao, the smallest country by population to ever qualify for the World Cup, hold tournament dark horses Ecuador to a 0-0 draw to spark tears and euphoria back home.

Besides the invaluable exposure and experience gained by these nations, it expanded the geographical knowledge of fans around the world. We discovered new players, teams and kits.

Over the last month, some friends have said they would not have known where Curacao and Cape Verde were without the World Cup.

Such is the impact that Cape Verde is set to receive a huge tourism boost following its heroic run to the round of 32, said media reports.

According to the Mirror US, global search queries for the African country have skyrocketed in recent weeks, going up by more than 800 per cent compared to before the tournament on online travel agency Expedia.

Then there are the stories of footballers going from nobodies to personalities.

Cape Verde’s 40-year-old goalkeeper Vozinha began the tournament with about 46,000 Instagram followers – that number has climbed to 29.3 million after his heroics.

There were fears of a less competitive 48-team World Cup, and that quality would be hit by one-sided games, especially after long club seasons.

But those fears proved largely unfounded, as lopsided results were few. Quality also ultimately prevailed as the four highest-ranked national teams reached the semi-finals, while the emergence of several debutants gave the tournament a much-needed sense of soul.

The biggest defeats at the 2026 edition included Germany’s 7-1 blowout of Curacao, Canada’s 6-0 shut-out over nine-man Qatar, and Iraq’s 5-0 thumping at the hands of Senegal in the group stage.

Many supposedly weaker teams were organised, competitive, and tough to break down. FIFA’s technical study group (TSG) consisting of former footballers such as Pablo Zabaleta, Jon Dahl Tomasson, Gilberto Silva and Otto Addo observed that the expanded 48-team format brought more actionability and unpredictability to the tournament.

“I (wondered), ‘Wow, 48 teams, how will it go? Will the gap be massive or not?’ I think we have and we’ve seen all the answers, and we received all the answers,” said TSG lead and former Switzerland goalkeeper Pascal Zuberbuhler.

Former Argentina international Zabaleta added: “You can see how those favourite teams have been struggling a little bit in the group stage, and it tells you that, these days, you don’t have easy games. You have to perform, you have to do well to win games.”

The knockout rounds were also compelling, with several closely fought encounters involving the favourites and underdogs.

While the World Cup delivered its fair share of thrills and spills, on the flip side, the tournament also felt long and bloated. Expanded from 64 matches at Qatar 2022 to a record 104 games, the competition added fixtures to an already demanding schedule.

Even for a football enthusiast who can find excitement in a Coventry City-Hull City match, this was too much football. My sleep-deprived body protested. Did the average football fan care about every match day? Probably not.

Let this be a warning for FIFA, which is looking at the possibility of expanding the World Cup to 64 teams before the 2030 event.

FIFA president Gianni Infantino told Swiss media outlet Bluewin: “Every nation should be allowed to dream of participating in the World Cup. You can see that the quality of the teams is extremely high – and it’s getting higher and higher, all over the world. If you don’t give smaller countries a chance to participate in the World Cup, they’ll lack the incentive to keep improving.”

While the 48-team tournament worked this time, the reality is that there simply are not enough quality international teams to justify expanding it further.

For every feel good underdog story, there were also sobering debuts. Jordan and Uzbekistan, both making their first Cup appearances, failed to earn a point and lost all their group-stage matches.

The World Cup should champion inclusivity and feel attainable, but competitiveness is key to keep fans engaged. The Finals must have the world’s best teams, and FIFA has a responsibility to preserve the tournament’s prestige.

Otherwise, a World Cup spot becomes an expectation, and not an achievement. How could it be special then?