Now that the final curtain has come down on the 2022 World Cup, at FIFA the countdown to the next tournament scheduled for summer 2026 is already underway. Five years ago, the decision was made that the 2026 World Cup would take place for the first time in three different countries – the US, Mexico and Canada – and for the first time 48 national teams would take part in it.

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FIFA President Gianni Infantino is the man responsible for increasing the size of the tournament by 50%, and the motives for this are crystal clear: increasing the revenues of the international football association and bolstering his own political status as head of the organization. More national teams mean more votes in the upcoming FIFA presidential elections.

But there is one issue that Infantino and his board of advisers have not addressed: how exactly is this monster-sized World Cup tournament going to work? Until very recently the idea was to divide up the 48 national teams into 16 groups with only three teams in each one. The top two teams in each group will then qualify and advance to the knockout stage. According to this method, there will be 80 games (instead of 64 under the current system), and the tournament, as it is now, will last for four weeks.

Apart from the fact that there will be 16 teams that will play only two matches before returning home, at first glance it doesn't appear to be such a bad solution. But the wise men of FIFA have not taken into account the fact that in a 3-team group, in each round there will always be one national team not playing a match, which will inevitably lead to a situation in which the two teams competing in the last group stage match will know precisely what outcome suits them in order to advance – and to send the third team home.

The infamous "Disgrace of Gijón" match held in Spain during the 1982 World Cup is still fresh in the memories of many football fans. West Germany and Austria colluded to secure a 1:0 win for the Germans, leading to the elimination of Algeria from the tournament, who had already finished their group stage matches at that point.

This incident led to a change being introduced in 1986, and the third and final group stage round would now be held with both matches taking place simultaneously to prevent similar acts of non-sporting behavior.

This welcome change has led to intensely dramatic scenes unfolding over the years, such as what happened now in Qatar in Group E, when the group table standings were repeatedly turned on their head before it was finally decided that Japan and Spain would proceed to the Final 16, while Germany and Costa Rica were eliminated.

104 games in five weeks                                                          

The most amazing fact is that FIFA has not commented on this issue, though a fair number of commentators have written about it. Former Arsenal manager and FIFA's Chief of Global Football Development, Arsene Wenger, referred to this only last weekend.

He did not rule out the original idea of the 16 three-team group format but added that an additional two alternatives are currently being examined. One idea is to have 12 four-team groups, with the first and second-place teams qualifying automatically for the knockout stage, while the eight best third-place finishers would also advance to the Final 16 stage.

The second idea is slightly more complicated: the 48 national teams competing in the World Cup will be divided into two separate tournaments. Each 24-team tournament will comprise six groups of four teams.

In each tournament, the six group winners will advance to the knockout stage along with the two best second-place teams. Following the quarterfinals and semifinals in each individual tournament, the last four teams (the two winners of the semifinal matches in each tournament) will then compete for the title based on the "Final Four" system.

In both of these proposed formats, the tournament would involve 104 soccer matches, lasting for five weeks, and this is where the genuine problem lies. The football clubs – who pay the players' wages – will clearly be adamantly opposed to this, and we should not forget the fans and the media too, for whom this would be an unprecedented, exorbitantly expensive and fatiguing event.

But that's not all: since the World Cup shifted from a format of 24 to 32 national teams, the need for internal rating of the best second-place teams in each group has been abandoned.

A shift to a 48-team competition would take us back to this most unhealthy state of affairs, as then the decision as to who advances would be based on goal difference, and there are always differences between the various groups in terms of the quality of the national teams. Once again, those teams playing last in the group stage schedule will know precisely what result they need to progress.

Wenger said that a decision on the competition format will be made only next year, but it is already clear that the move to a 48-team World Cup is extremely problematic, and will face considerable, severe criticism.

All the way to New York                                                                  

In the meantime, FIFA has already decided on the distribution of tickets for the next World Cup according to continents. Europe will send 16 teams (instead of 13); South America will send six teams, with the option of one more in a playoff (instead of 4+1); Africa will be represented by nine teams with the option of an additional one (instead of five); and Asia will be able to send eight teams with the option of an additional team too (instead of 4+1). The three host nations will of course qualify automatically.

An additional three national teams will qualify from North America and Central America with the option of two teams qualifying from the playoff, while Oceania will have one guaranteed place and an additional team to qualify from the playoff. Six teams will take part in the playoff tournament (from all the continents apart from Europe), and the top two sides will complete the puzzle of the 48 participating nations.

The final dates of the World Cup will be determined only after the format has been decided, in summer 2023. The host cities of the various matches and the division between the host countries have already been decided. There are to be 11 in the USA, three in Mexico and two in Canada.

The venue for the final has yet to be published, but it appears to be patently clear that this will take place at the MetLife Stadium in New York – the home of New York's two famous football teams, the New York Giants and the New York Jets.

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PARIS (December 18, 2022) —

The atmosphere at Saint-Denis north of Paris is exhilarating. The afternoon of the World Cup final. Hmmm … but not exactly what you were expecting. No flags on the houses and no honking in the streets. They are just playing soccer. Dozens of soccer fields full of amateur players, teams of boys, even girls. I almost rubbed my eyes in astonishment before the opening of the final, when the referee whistled to open the girls' game. "Each half is only twenty minutes. We'll get home shortly after the opening of the game," says one of the fathers.

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The French indifference was apparent everywhere. The best soccer player in the world for 2022, Karim Benzema, tweeted that he doesn't care about what is happening in Qatar. Without a spot of patriotism, the most famous sports magazine in the world, L'Equipe, split its front cover between Messi and Mbappé, even though it must be noted that they might not have any spirit of patriotism, but good journalistic senses, they most definitely do have!!

The viewing event for local fans failed. "Poor publicity," says one usher. "You can't start only with the final game," explains another. All that remains is to see whether the indifference has infected the national team, or the national team has infected the public.

It was 2-0 Argentina in the first half. But just then the plot takes an unusual emotional turn. The TV broadcast showed the French exchanges that brought about the change, but here we noticed something else. Five players who got up off the bench were Parisians – Koeman, Muani, Konaté, Disasi and Fofana – and for the spectators in Saint-Denis, who grew up within a radius of no more than a few miles from here, these are people who look and talk and feel like them. This is the second generation of France in every possible sense: Almost all the spectators here come from Africa. Northern Africa, or the areas south of the Sahara.

And they turned the game around. And the legend of Mbappé developed before our eyes. He was compared to Pele, Zidane, Vavá and Breitner as scoring the goals in two finals. He was compared to Pele and English Hearst, as the scorer of a triple goal. And then he surpassed all soccer players in scoring the number of goals at a World Cup Final. I never saw Raimundo Orsi's wonderful goal for Italy in 1934, but from what was broadcast on television, Mbappé's 2-2 goal was the most beautiful ever scored in a final. And he will soon be 24.

What has passed in the meantime are the assumptions of soccer fans that a soccer player has to win either way to be a winner or a loser. Every player – whether Argentinean or French – who was on the field, can forever walk down the street and say that he played in the World Cup Final of 2022. Messi shows us why he is one of the greatest in history. Mbappé shows us time and time again why he will also be one.

The second half, ending in 3-3, is the most important and this teaches us a lesson. Vive la France. Viva la Argentina. Long live soccer!

After the extra time, France loses on penalty kicks. The crowds fold up their flags. France is no more the world cup soccer champions, but they won something that is much greater than the cup. The love of their people. The French will no longer show indifference to their wonderful team.

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Buenos Aires (DECEMBER 18, 2020) —

It was a battle of the titans, between Lionel Messi and Kylian Mbappé. A rare game of once in a generation, ending after 120 nerve-racking minutes. A final that has never been seen before, bringing Argentina to its third victory in the World Cup final, after several failed attempts in the past.

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With this victory, Messi broke the curse of 36 years and there is no doubt anymore that he is the greatest of them all; the second to sprout from Argentina, after Diego Armando Maradona. The score is now equal.

"We are ecstatic; there is immense happiness, the players caused us to suffer, but the game was always for Argentina. We deserved to win. What else do you want? Argentina has won three times: in the game, in the extra time, and in the penalty kicks,"

"To see Messi raise the cup; he deserves so much. This is a great evening in Buenos Aires. Tomorrow does not exist. This has not happened for a long time. The happiness is great," he added.

Only hours before the start of the final, the local media channel was focused, as expected, on the exclusivity of the World Cup final. The Clarin corporation was giving out every bit of information, such as a spiritual blessing from his holiness, Pope Francesca, himself a Buenos Aires native.

"Our best wishes to the champions, but I call upon all of you to live with this in modesty. And to whoever does not win, to live with this in happiness." The Pope called to play a "clean game," in his interview to the Italian Canale 5.

Streets in the Argentinean capital were blocked. People took off from work and the public transportation was significantly limited. Buenos Aires's main street, Avenida 9 de Julio, was closed off to fan who surged to the Obelisco, with increased police presence.

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LUSAIL, Qatar –

Wow. Wow. Wow, times 1000. My heart is beating at 180 pulses a minute and I am still trying to wrap my head around what my eyes have seen. There is no Hollywood script that could ever match what unfolded in the FIFA World Cup 2022 final between Argentina and France on Sunday. The thriller was a nail-biter all the way to the end, culminating with the happy ending that had become a global consensus: Argentina is the fresh champion; Lionel Messi is the new GOAT.

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This was undoubtedly the best soccer match ever; the best World Cup final one could imagine. Two superstars Kylian Mbappé and Messi in a game that would surely be talked about for years to come. Countless upsets that defied any logic, with fans rooting like mad from the bleachers and billions watching at home – and everyone in disbelief. The tension,  closing the 2-goal gap, the joy turning to despair and vice versa, and the prayers – wow, there were prayers heard all across the globe and they were mostly directed at one person, who may be only 5 feet tall but is also a one-in-a-lifetime magician who got the official certification on Sunday that he is number one.

Nothing could have prepared us for the drama that we saw over the 120-plus minutes of the game. It was basically dominated by one side for 80 minutes; it was almost boring, with Argentina scoring two goals, first by Messi and then by Ángel Di María. The Albiceleste fans in the stands continued with their enthusiastic singing that has become such a part of the team's experience over the past month whenever their team played – you could hear them on the streets of Doha, on the subway system, and on the way to the stadiums and of course in the stadium, whose fans were almost without exception dressed in sky-blue and white; only a few pockets of fans wearing the tricolor were noticeable.

Then came the successor, Mbappé, and in what was a stellar personal drive managed to score two equalizers in one minute. The Argentina fans thought they were going to collapse; the French were ecstatic. Even when the match dragged into stoppage time and then extra time, the tit-for-tat continued, with Mbappé once again equalizing after Messi – in his seventh goal this tournament – brought Argentina to a short-lived one-goal advantage. Mbappé's Hanukkah miracle, on the first night of the holiday, resulted in this crazy match reaching a point that is inherently not suitable when it comes to determining which of the best two national teams should win.

Then when the penalty kicks began, it was only Argentina that dominated, mainly thanks to the great performance of its goalie Emiliano Martínez. The man who managed to save them from defeat in the penalty shootout against the Netherlands did it again and then burst into tears. All the Argentinian players cried with him, as did the thousands in the stand who had waited 36 years for this moment. The only person who did not shed a tear was Messi, who in this tournament showed different traits: leadership, maturity, and as someone who could finally fill Diego Maradona's shoes and take with him 40 million of his compatriots all the way to the holy grail.

The French players, who came back from the dead, looked like a train wreck at the end. They were so close to grabbing another championship, the second in a row. Ultimately, despite Mbappé's amazing game (he so desperately wanted to have the trophy for his birthday this week), no one is going to remember their performance in this World Cup. What will linger is the fact that Argentina won its third World Cup and the jubilation that will follow, as this soccer-obsessed nation celebrates for many days to come to distract from the many problems.

The joy on the pitch continue well after the game was over. Messi swung the cup wearing the black and gold gilded robe he got from the Qatar emir, and then ran off to hug his wife and kids. One picture of the Messi family, speaking and smiling caught my eye. Every other player would have been overcome with emotion at this moment, but Messi – who lives in his own universe, was cool as a cucumber as if he was enjoying a family picnic that just happened to coincide with him holding the most prized trophy in the world.

The Argentinian fans who could not get enough of the celebrations inside the stadium continued partying outside the venue all through the capital city of Doha, which had live-performance stages dotting the entire metropolis. But nothing could upstage the best show in town: the throngs of Argentinians having the time of their lives. Their solidarity with their national team, which started well before the match began, dragged on and on for hours upon hours after the final whistle had been blown, and will surely continue until the team touches down in Buenos Aires.

The world-class performance we saw in the final was a proper final note for a fantastic World Cup with superb quality on display throughout. Yes, this was a treacherous and tainted road – from having to move the tournament to the winter to the thousands of dead construction works and the prohibition of alcohol and protesting anti-LBGT law- but as far as the soccer that was on display, the past month brought the most popular game in the world to new heights. It is doubtful that we will get to see such games in the near future.

As far as Qatar is concerned, that is all that matters. It ran a smooth and impressive tournament, which is no small feat for such a tiny country that had never hosted events of such magnitude. The effort the rulers took in making sure this was a success is seen in every corner, not just in the games, but on the streets as well. Qatar showed the world a smiling face, which was only marred occasionally by political demonstrations (mainly from Morocco's team). It also had the good luck of having the best two teams reach the final, with its two crown jewels of Messi and Mbappé – both play in the Qatari-owned team Paris Saint-Germain F.C. It essentially proved that there is nothing money can't buy.

Starting Monday, Qatar will once again be what is used to be: a rich sheikhdom that is both religious and conservative. But anyone who has had the chance of visiting it over the past several weeks will never forget the magic that was part of this tournament, and especially the final: a once-in-a-lifetime experience that is almost supernatural. Perhaps the only thing one can say is, Thank you. Thank you for having the privilege of seeing this match, these players, and being part of an event that most likely won't be replicated in the future.

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