Hardik, Nitish and Harshit: India’s worrisome threesome
This article discusses the expansion of the FIFA World Cup to 48 teams and the subsequent performance of newer entrants. It highlights the debate between maintaining elite standards and promoting global inclusivity in the sport.
Why it matters
The expansion of major global sporting events impacts the competitive landscape and the development of infrastructure in smaller nations.
When FIFA, football’s world governing body, decreed some nine-and-a-half years back that the sport’s flagship event, the World Cup, would be expanded to 48 teams from the existing 32 from the 2026 edition, it was received with mixed feelings. Nations that had narrowly missed out on qualification were energised by the prospect of 16 additional berths boosting their prospects to a reasonable degree. Others weren’t merely sceptical or apprehensive, they vehemently dismissed it as a populous, self-serving, self-defeating decision.
The piece presents both sides of the expansion debate—the skeptics and the proponents—without taking a definitive stance.
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