Ghana coach Queiroz questions value of 48-team World Cup

Ghana coach Carlos Queiroz expressed doubts about the merits of expanding the World Cup to 48 teams, warning it could devalue the prestigious tournament. He suggested that a larger number of qualifying spots might lessen the drama and significance of qualification matches, potentially impacting the overall value of reaching the World Cup.

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With so many teams qualifying for the World Cup, I think the value of the competition in terms of being rare to be in the World Cup, is, in my opinion, still debatable.

Queiroz, speaking at a news conference, stated that the rarity of participating in the World Cup is debatable with the increased number of teams. He believes that qualification matches, even in regions like Europe and Africa, are starting to lose their importance because more teams are guaranteed a spot. The Portuguese coach emphasized the need for a World Cup structure that ensures qualification remains serious, tough, and competitive.

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Even the qualification matches in Europe and Africa, they start to lose significance, meaning, because everybody is qualified.

Reflecting on Ghana's performance, Queiroz acknowledged costly defensive mistakes in their 2-1 loss to Croatia. He highlighted that the team learned valuable lessons from the game, which will inform their approach in the upcoming round-of-32 match against Colombia. He stated that the team has a clearer understanding of player performance and potential adjustments for future games.

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The best thing of this game, it is what we learned from the game. We learn a lot of things in terms of our evolution, our progress.