FANS frustrated by Friday’s lengthy World Cup draw reckon the next one could be a never-ending nightmare – as it jumps from 32 to 48 teams.
Supporters predicted a farcical and ‘bloated’ 2026 event after claiming that even the Qatar draw was a ‘debacle’.
England boss Gareth Southgate and Co waited patiently through Friday’s draw Credit: Reuters
Fans fear the 2026 draw will be a bigger ‘debacle than the ‘drawn-out’ affair in Qatar Credit: EPA But some reckon there could be fun side effects – with comments like ‘Italy might have a chance’ and ‘looking forward to Liechtenstein vs Faroe Islands’.
England being matched with Iran, the USA and Wales/Scotland/Ukraine in Group B cheered fans.
But many poured derision at Fifa’s decision to expand the 2026 tournament – and not just geographically.
It’s taking place over vast distances – as the USA, Mexico and Canada will be joint hosts.
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All the reaction as England get dream draw for World Cup group stage FREE BETS AND SIGN UP DEALS – BEST NEW CUSTOMER OFFERS
And the huge increase in the number of teams led to jibes like: “Will take an hour to explain going by today’s debacle.”
One cynic suggested: “Maybe we should have The Premier World Cup, The World Cup Championship and The World Conference Cup and if any are left over, The World Cup of Tea.”
And another said: “It should be increased to 200 teams, every country deserves a chance to play in a World Cup.”
A few scoffed that ‘the draw will have to begin soon’ and ‘rehearsals have already started’.
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And generally fans seem worried the event could turn into the sporting equivalent of something like watching Eurovision, the Oscars and the whole Lord of the Rings trilogy… in one go.
Such observations included “over 48 hours” and “I hear they will be serving a buffet half way through, with of course, more musical numbers”.
And one of the shortest verdicts on the longest draw was: “Football has died.”
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
