We've reached the knockout stage of World Cup 2022, and for a while it was looking like teams from outside of Europe and South America were going to make an impact. After the high drama of the group stage, some people are questioning the wisdom of expanding the 2026 tournament to 48 teams, with unsatisfactory competition formats being proposed by FIFA. For nations in parts of the world where football is still developing, qualification is significantly harder than for nations in the traditional bases of the game. What can be done to give fairer access to football's top table while maintaining the quality and drama we currently enjoy? pods.sofpodcast.com/sofpodcast_517.mp3