DOHA: The next World Cup will be the biggest ever after world soccer body FIFA took the leap from a 32-team field to 48 teams in 2026.

It means more of football’s so-called “little teams” that didn’t make it to Qatar will be given a chance of a lifetime when the tournament is hosted by the United States, Canada and Mexico.

That could be great news for everyone who was entertained by Saudi Arabia’s stirring upset of Lionel Messi’s Argentina at this World Cup, Japan’s two wins over former champions Germany and Spain or Morocco’s humbling of star-studded Belgium and Spain on its way to an unexpected quarterfinal run. More surprises surely await in four years.

Still, it’s not clear to everyone that bigger is better.

While 48 teams might increase the chances of fairytale moments such as Saudi Arabia’s 2-1 win over Argentina in the group stage, there’s also a good chance of the opposite: more one-sided games that may take some of the shine off a tournament that is meant to be the best vs. the best.

Spain 7, Costa Rica 0 also happened at this World Cup. As did England’s 6-2 rout of Iran, France’s 4-1 dismantling of Australia and Qatar becoming the first host country to lose its three group stage matches. FIFA will need to dig even deeper into the lower levels of international football to get from 32 to 48.

“It means that we will have to find 16 more good teams,” said Arsene Wenger, FIFA’s Chief of Global Football Development and a central figure in making a 48-team World Cup workable.

FIFA is still promoting the expansion as an upgrade and good for the global game. All continents will have more slots and FIFA says opening soccer’s marquee event to more of its 211 member countries or territories should have an impact beyond the teams, with the prospect of even more eyes on TV screens and more kids inspired to kick balls across the globe.

“I am convinced that if the teams, the countries have more opportunities to go to the world stage, it will do more for (soccer) development inside that country,” Wenger said.

Qatar’s World Cup is the first in the Middle East and the furthest FIFA has ventured from the game’s heartlands in Europe and South America. That decision has provoked its own harsh criticism but the on-field action might have been a timely advert for the 48-team plan, which FIFA announced in 2017 and has had to defend ever since over doubts about what the exact format will be.

FIFA initially indicated it would be 16 groups of three teams, but that idea was widely criticized. Another option could be 12 groups of four teams. Wenger said FIFA’s decision-making council has not decided yet.

In Qatar, Japan was one of three Asian teams to qualify for the last 16, which had never happened before. African teams collected more points in the group stage than ever. Morocco topped a group containing 2018 World Cup runner-up Croatia and semifinalist Belgium and advanced to the quarterfinals by beating Spain on penalties on Tuesday. Cameroon signed off by beating Brazil, the first time an African team has conquered the five-time champion and soccer’s most celebrated team at a World Cup.

“Just look at how the World Cup is unfolding,” said Senegal coach Aliou Cisse. “It’s not like 30 years ago when the big fish were completely eating the little fish alive.”

Amid Japan’s run in Qatar, winger Takefusa Kubo said “they can’t underestimate Asia.” Ghana coach Otto Addo said Africa deserves its extra places and its teams now have a better chance of going further.
However, the expansion may not have much of an impact on the final outcome of the World Cup.

European and South American teams — the big fish Cisse referred to — have gobbled up every one of the 21 World Cup titles so far, with 12 for Europe and nine for South America. No teams from another continent have made a final in nearly 100 years of World Cup history. Eighty-two out of 84 semifinalists have been European or South American. The United States in 1930 and South Korea in 2002 are the exceptions.

In Qatar, while teams from outside Europe and South America did well in the group stage, only Morocco advanced to the quarterfinals, where it will face Portugal on Saturday. South Korea, Japan, Senegal, the United States and Australia were all eliminated in the round of 16.

Cisse’s Senegal are the African champions but were outclassed 3-0 by England. South Korea, ranked No. 3 in Asia, was knocked out 4-1 by Brazil. South Korea forward Son Heung-min, his country’s one star, said almost in envy: “Look at their players.”

A bigger World Cup does offer clear advancement opportunities for FIFA, though.

Just over 3.5 billion people, more than half the world’s population, watched the 2018 World Cup in Russia, according to FIFA, and the soccer body earned record revenues of $7.5 billion from commercial deals tied to the Qatar World Cup.

With those numbers in the bank from a 32-team tournament, 48 offers the obvious chance to sell World Cup aspirations to more people in more places.

The only significance June 13, 2014 holds for world football is that the 2014 FIFA World Cup began that day in Brazil. For a number of Croatian footballers though, it features the start of a journey that will come full circle when Croatia face Brazil on Friday. 

When Brazil kicked off a home World Cup with a routine 3-1 win against Croatia that day, the latter were but an afterthought. Yet looking back, it was the initiation of a number of members from Croatia’s second golden generation to World Cup football. Starting that day was Luka Modric, who had made the squad when Croatia last qualified for the World Cup in 2006, but had not started a game.

Also in the starters’ list were Ivan Perisic. who scored their only goal against Japan on Monday, Dejan Lovren and Mateo Kovacic. Another starter from Monday Marcelo Brozovic was on the bench while Domagoj Vida was an unused substitute in both matches. 

With the exception of Kovacic somehow, still only 28 every other name from that list will be playing the World Cup for the last time. And the journey in between, when they took Croatia from group stage also-rans to a serious threat to any team in the tournament, has been memorable. 

The highlight, of course, will always be that improbable run to the final of the 2018 edition, when they wore down opponents by taking every knockout game they played beyond regulation time. After two penalty shootout victories and an extra time winner over England, they fell in the final to an imperious France. Their penalty shootout victory against Japan one of the fittest teams of this tournament showed that their reputation for wearing down opponents over two hours is still intact. Brazil would do well to be weary.

Regardless of when their World Cup journey ends, this generation will have redefined what football means to Croatia. Football has always been part of the nation’s psyche the popular legend goes that the Yugoslav wars that birthed the modern Croatian state started with a particularly violent and riot-filled match between the Croatian club Dinamo Zagreb and the Serbian Red Star Belgrade.

Then, in 1998, the newly-formed nation, still finding its place in the world, celebrated with pride as the Croatian side led by Zvonimir Boban and Davor Suker reached the semifinals of the World Cup in France.

That 1998 side is the only competition that this generation faces in the debate over their place in history. “In terms of achievements, both the semi-final in 1998 and the final in 2018 were more than unexpected,” says Dario Brentin, a researcher in sports and politics in the Balkans.

“And both were celebrated equally in Croatia. Arguably, Croatia was politically in a much more difficult political situation compared to 2018 and hence that semi-final had additional political weight. On the other hand, a final is a final, so one could say simply by the fact of taking one step further that the 2018 generation usurped the 1998 generation in the overall hierarchy of Croatian sporting successes.”

One thing is unquestionable though. The current crop has influenced the notion of Croatian national identity every bit as much as that 1998 side. “Unquestionably both events influenced Croatian national identity and have become central in the way Croatians talk about themselves and their country,” says Brentin.

“It has become one of the sacred centres of society and whilst the generation of 1998 might have been instrumental in the establishment of that narrative, the generation of 2018 has made sure that this narrative will remain of significance for the foreseeable future.”

Of course, this debate could very well be set to rest by the time Qatar bids goodbye to the World Cup. All the Croatians need to do is extra-time their way to three more victories. 

DOHA: Goncalo Ramos justified the shock decision to drop Cristiano Ronaldo by scoring a hat-trick on his full debut as Portugal demolished Switzerland 6-1 on Tuesday to power into the World Cup quarter-finals.

The 21-year-old Ramos, who started instead of Ronaldo, became the youngest player to strike three times in a World Cup knockout match since Pele in 1958.

Pepe, Raphael Guerreiro and Rafael Leao were also on target for a rampant Portugal, who booked a showdown with Morocco on Saturday for a place in the last four in Qatar.

Ronaldo, 37 and now without a club after his departure from Manchester United, has hogged the headlines during the tournament while looking a shadow of his former self.

The only man to score at five World Cups, Ronaldo was left out by coach Fernando Santos against the Swiss following his angry response to being substituted in the last group game.

It was a bold call to omit a player with a record 118 international goals in favour of giving a full debut to Ramos, the Benfica striker who had played just 33 minutes across three previous appearances.

But it took just 17 minutes for Ramos to reward Santos’ faith, and to achieve something Ronaldo has never done — score in a World Cup knockout game.

Joao Felix clipped delicately into the feet of Ramos, who quickly swivelled past Fabian Schaer and rifled into the roof of the net past a stunned Yann Sommer.

Otavio, who returned to the Portugal midfield after injury in their opening match, shot straight at Sommer before Ramos did likewise moments later.

Xherdan Shaqiri drew a fingertip stop from Diogo Costa with a dipping free-kick from distance, but Portugal soon had their second.

Bruno Fernandes whipped in a corner and the 39-year-old Pepe towered above the Swiss defence to powerfully head home.

Diogo Dalot hacked Remo Freuler’s header off the line after Diogo Costa failed to properly deal with a cross, but the Swiss simply had no answers against an irresistible Portugal.

Ramos turned in his second from close range six minutes into the second half from Dalot’s cross down the right.

He then turned provider by playing in Guerreiro to lash in another just four minutes later as the Swiss defence was ruthlessly ripped apart.

It was also Ramos who inadvertently glanced a corner towards Manuel Akanji at the far post as the Manchester City centre-back pulled one back for Switzerland.

Ramos completed his treble after more outstanding work from Felix, nonchalantly dinking over Sommer with one of his final touches before making way for Ronaldo.

The five-time Ballon d’Or winner’s introduced elicited the biggest roar of the night. Ronaldo did have the ball in the back of the net but it was ruled out for a clear offside.

Leao capped off a sensational Portugal performance with a terrific curling strike in stoppage time.

AL RAYYAN: Marcus Rashford dropped to his knees and pointed up to the sky

The England forward had just scored against Wales at the World Cup, starting off a 3-0 victory that sent his team into the round of 16.

His celebration, he said, was in tribute to a friend who recently passed away after a long battle with cancer. It could have also been in celebration of working his way into the starting lineup in Qatar.

“Moments like this, this is what I play football for. The biggest moments, the best moments,” said Rashford, who started his first game of the tournament. “I’m happy we are going through to the next round of the tournament because I have massive ambitions for this team and I think we can play even better than we did today.”

Rashford scored two goals at Ahmad Bin Ali Stadium, making him the co-leading scorer at the World Cup with three goals — the same as France striker Kylian Mbappe and two others. Phil Foden, another England player who made his first start in Qatar on Tuesday, got the other.

Rashford played at the last World Cup in 2018 and also at the 2020 European Championship, but the 25-year-old Manchester United forward was considered to be fortunate to make England coach Gareth Southgate’s squad for this year’s tournament.

Ever since his miss in the penalty shootout loss to Italy in the Euro 2020 final, Rashford has been going through a turbulent period in his career, compounded by injuries. He and teammate Bukaya Saka, both of them Black, were racially abused after missing their penalties in the shootout at Wembley Stadium.

“It has been a challenge for him,” said Southgate, who also led the team to the World Cup semifinals four years ago in Russia. “I went and saw him in the summer, had a big chat with him and he had some clear ideas on things he felt he needed to think about.

“You can see with his club there has been happiness in his performances and that has shown itself on the training ground. We have a different version (of him) completely to the Euros. That’s great for him and for us.”

In Qatar, Southgate opted to leave Rashford and Foden on the bench in the first two matches against Iran and the United States, starting with Saka and Raheem Sterling up front alongside captain Harry Kane.

Rashford came on a substitute in the 6-2 victory over Iran and scored one of the goals. Foden played 19 minutes in that match.

Against the United States, England was held to a 0-0 draw with Rashford again coming in off the bench.

The lineup changed for the final Group B match against Wales, and both Rashford and Foden took advantage of their time on the field.

Rashford put England in the lead with a free kick in the 50th minute, and followed it with that tribute to his late friend. Foden added the second only one minute later, and Rashford made it 3-0 in the 68th.

The win guaranteed England first place in the group. The team will next face Senegal in the round of 16 on Sunday.

Wales, which was playing at the World Cup for the first time in 64 years, finished last in the group and was eliminated. The United States ended up in second place and will next face the Netherlands, while Iran finished third and was also eliminated.

It may have been captain Gareth Bale’s last match for his national team.

The former Real Madrid player had to come off the field at halftime because of a hamstring injury, but Wales coach Rob Page said he expects Bale to continue.

“He wants what’s best for the team. He understands that and he knew if he had gone back out he would have probably played at about 70%,” Page said. “When you are playing against a team like that you can’t carry anyone.

“I don’t think it will be the last time we see him in a Welsh jersey. There’s games starting again in March in the Euros (qualifying) and we want to get off to a flying start. We will see him in a jersey.”

KANE’S WAIT

Kane won the Golden Boot as the World Cup’s leading scorer four years ago in Russia, but he has yet to find the net in Qatar.

SOUTHGATE DELIVERS

Southgate is coaching England at a third major tournament, and he has navigated the group stage successfully each time. England reached the semifinals at the World Cup in Russia, and then went all the way to the final at Euro 2020.

The team hasn’t won a major trophy since its lone World Cup success in 1966 at home.

LUSAIL: For a long time after the final whistle, Luis Chavez crouched on the field in anguish.

He had just scored in Mexico’s furious attempt to stay alive at the World Cup, but the 2-1 victory on  Wednesday over Saudi Arabia wasn’t enough. Because of Argentina’s 2-0 victory over Poland in a simultaneous match, Mexico failed to advance out of its group for the first time since 1978.

“We had a chance to qualify,” Chavez said glumly. “We didn’t achieve it.”

Mexico had reached the knockout round at the last seven World Cups, second only to Brazil, which has gone through to the round of 16 since 1986.

El Tri went into the match at Lusail Stadium needing both a victory and help from Poland playing across town against Argentina to advance in Group C. Argentina’s victory meant goal difference came into play — and Mexico didn’t have enough of them.

Henry Martin scored in the 48th minute to give El Tri hope, and the team’s chances got even better with Chavez’s goal on a free kick four minutes later.

Mexico tried desperately in the final 20 minutes to get another goal — including an effort by Uriel Antuna in the 87th minute that was ruled offside — but came up short.

“We needed one more goal. I didn’t know exactly what happened at the end,” said veteran Mexico goalkeeper Guillermo Ochoa, who was playing in his fifth World Cup. “For us, the object was to score three or four goals. It’s a shame.”

Salem Aldawsari scored in second-half stoppage time for Saudi Arabia, which was eliminated along with Mexico despite beating Argentina in its opening match.

Martin’s goal ended Mexico’s 431-minute scoring drought at the World Cup, dating back to their second group match at the 2018 tournament in Russia. It was the team’s longest-ever stretch without a goal at the tournament.

Mexico opened the tournament in Qatar with a 0-0 draw against Poland but fell 2-0 to Lionel Messi and Argentina.

Mexico hadn’t been eliminated from the group stage since the World Cup in Argentina 44 years ago. El Tri didn’t qualify for the 1982 World Cup in Spain and was banned from the 1990 event in Italy for using overage players at an under-20 tournament.

“I must say that I assume all the responsibility for this massive failure,” Mexico coach Garardo “Tata” Martino said.

Mexico advanced to the round of 16 in its last seven appearances — but no further. El Tri came to Qatar looking to play in an elusive “quinto partido” — a fifth game — for the first time since Mexico hosted the tournament in 1986.

Saudi Arabia had one of the tournament’s biggest ever upsets ever when it beat Argentina 2-1. But the Green Falcons couldn’t pull off another surprise in its second match, a 2-0 loss to Poland.

The Saudis reached the round of 16 back in 1994, the team’s World Cup debut, but haven’t made it past the group stage since.

“Tonight it was difficult to breathe with the intensity Mexico put into the match,” Saudi Arabia coach Herve Renard said.

Many on the Saudi team were also part of the squad that went to the 2018 World Cup. But none play outside of their home country. Twelve players on the roster are with Al Hilal, which has won a record 18 Saudi league championships.

Mexico dominated the first half. Orbelin Pineda had one of the best of three good chances for El Tri, but it was easily grabbed by Saudi Arabia goalkeeper Mohammed Alowais in the 25th minute.

The game turned quickly in Mexico’s favour with Martin’s goal, but the celebration was muted. Chavez’s free kick in the 52nd that went into the upper corner just out of Alowais’ reach brought Mexico’s reserves rushing onto the field.

Hirving Lozano nearly had a third goal but he was offside. Chavez had another free kick that missed as Mexico tried in vain to score more goals.

Martino had been roundly criticized for the lack of scoring. He had already been questioned over some of his choices, including his decision to leave all-time leading scorer Javier “Chicharito” Hernandez off the team.

Hernandez, who now plays for the LA Galaxy in Major League Soccer, scored the team’s last goal in a 2-1 group-stage victory over South Korea in Russia.

After the match, Martino said his contract with Mexico had ended with the final whistle.

Ochoa, however, wasn’t ready to say if he’d still be with the team in 2026 when Mexico, the United States and Canada will host the World Cup.

“We will see. We will see,” Ochoa said. “Tonight I’m sad so I have to think about that. But maybe that could happen.”

DOHA: Costa Rica stunned Japan 1-0 thanks to a late goal at the World Cup on Sunday to blow Group E wide open and hand a potential lifeline to Germany

Japan, who shocked four-time champions Germany 2-1 in their opener in Qatar, could have taken a giant stride towards the last 16 with a win.

Instead they laboured for large parts of the match against a Costa Rica side who were hammered 7-0 by Spain, then defender Keysher Fuller scored in the 81st minute with a deflected strike.

It was Costa Rica’s first shot on target at this World Cup and could be of huge benefit to the Germans.

The result left Spain, Japan and Costa Rica all on three points. Spain face Germany later Sunday in another crucial contest.

Japan made five changes to the team which shocked Germany in their opening match as coach Hajime Moriyasu made full use of his 26-man squad.

In temperatures of 32 degrees Celsius (90 degrees Fahrenheit) at Ahmad Bin Ali Stadium, Japan immediately went on the attack and won a corner within 30 seconds to signal their intent.

Costa Rica coach Luis Fernando Suarez had resisted making wholesale changes to the team thumped by Spain, dropping teenage winger Jewison Bennette and defender Carlos Martinez to the bench.

Gerson Torres and 34-year-old centre-back Kendall Waston took their place in an ageing XI which featured four players from the 2014 World Cup quarter-finals.

But Japan’s early promise melted in the Doha sun and the first shot at goal — a tame effort which sailed high and wide — did not come until 10 minutes from half-time through Costa Rica’s 30-year-old Joel Campbell.

A dreary first half came to a close with “Los Ticos” having had more of the ball but neither side mustering a shot on target.

Moriyasu had seen enough and made a double change at the break, one of them the introduction of Bundesliga-based striker Takuma Asano, who scored the winner against the Germans.

The Blue Samurai were immediately more cutting and midfielder Hidemasa Morita drew the first proper save of the match within seconds of the restart with a powerful strike.

Moriyasu threw on Brighton attacker Kaoru Mitoma for a defender just after the hour as Japan chased the victory that would put them on the cusp of the last 16.

It was all Japan as the match ticked into the last 20 minutes in front of 41,000 spectators.

Substitute Junya Ito looked to have wriggled free and was closing on goal, only for Costa Rica defender Francisco Calvo to cynically tug him back on the edge of the box, earning a yellow card that could easily have been red.

Costa Rica had done nothing for most of the game as an attacking force, but nine minutes from normal time they stole it when Fuller’s shot took a deflection and looped in.

DOHA: Brazil were sweating on the fitness of Neymar on Friday after their talisman sprained his ankle in the World Cup win over Serbia.

The Forward suffered injury  in a collision with Nikola Milenkovic during the second half of the 2-0 win in Qatar on Thursday in Brazil’s opening match.

The 30-year-old Paris Saint-Germain player attempted to continue but was substituted with about 10 minutes to go, shortly after Richarlison put Brazil two goals ahead.

Neymar was seen limping heavily after the game in Doha and photos showed swelling on his right ankle. He declined to speak to journalists as he left the stadium, but posted a light-hearted message on Twitter, without making reference to his injury.

“Tough game but it was important to win,” he said. “Congratulations team, first step taken… six to go.”

Team doctor Rodrigo Lasmar said it was too early to jump to conclusions. “We need to wait 24 to 48 hours to have a better assessment,” said Lasmar. “We have not scheduled any MRI (scan) and tomorrow we’ll have a new assessment. “We need to wait, we cannot make any premature comments about his evolution.”

Coach Tite was optimistic that Neymar would be back to lead Brazil’s bid for a record-extending sixth World Cup crown. “You can be certain that Neymar is going to play in the World Cup,” Tite said, adding that the attacker had initially stayed on the pitch after hurting his ankle “because the team needed him”.

Brazil struggled to impose themselves in the first half against Serbia before finding their spark. Richarlison poked home from close range shortly after the hour mark and then produced an acrobatic finish to double the lead.

They next face Switzerland on Monday, with their final Group G match against Cameroon.

Neymar follows in a long tradition of great Brazilian number 10s and needs just two goals to equal Pele’s all-time record tally of 77 for the South American nation.

Brazil boasts an impressive array of attacking talent including Raphinha, Richarlison and Vinicius Junior and they were able to bring Rodrygo and Gabriel Jesus off the bench against Serbia.

But Neymar, who is playing in his third and possibly last World Cup, is the player who makes the team tick. The Brazilian’s career has though been peppered by injuries which have impacted his previous two World Cups.

In 2014 he suffered a fractured bone in his back in the quarter-final win over Colombia before the hosts were humiliated by Germany in the semi-finals, losing 7-1. Four years later he raced to recover from injury in time for the tournament in Russia, but Brazil never hit the expected heights before losing to Belgium in the last eight.

The former Barcelona star, who has 122 caps for Brazil, also missed the 2019 Copa America after suffering torn ligaments in his right ankle.

In 2021 Neymar was out for about 10 weeks of the French season after suffering ligament damage to his left ankle. This time he arrived fit and firing in Qatar after a fantastic start to the season with PSG, in which he has scored 15 goals in 20 games.

His latest issue could prove just to be a scare. But until we know more, a nation will be holding its breath.