Wu Wei Photo

Beijing Time, June 17th, the World Cup group stage matches continue. The title contenders France and Argentina both played their first matches, safely defeating their respective opponents Senegal and Algeria, securing a good start in the group stage.
This World Cup is the first to feature 48 teams. The significant expansion of this World Cup has been controversial from the start until now.
"Has the World Cup been watered down?" is a frequent comment on the international football scene and social media platforms after the event was revealed. Some believe that expanding the tournament allows more mediocre teams to participate, and the gap in strength between these teams and the top teams is huge, which could lead to many one-sided matches, reducing the entertainment and competitiveness of the games.
Too many "weak teams" participating could turn the World Cup into a stage of "amateurs fighting each other," losing its unique charm as a top global football event and negatively impacting the brand value of the World Cup.
UEFA President Ceferin openly stated before this World Cup that due to the expansion, there are many completely boring matches, and "I think expanding the World Cup in this way is pointless." Italian football legend Colovatti was even more outspoken, saying that some of the qualifying teams have poor competitive levels, and FIFA's expansion move is "ridiculous."
After the expansion, the World Cup schedule has been significantly extended. The tournament duration has increased from 29 days to 39 days, spanning 16 cities across three North American countries. The number of matches for the title-contending teams has increased from 7 to 8. For players who have just finished a long club season, this means greater physical load, higher fatigue accumulation, and more severe injury risks.
It is reported that the England team even used GPS performance tracking technology for the first time to monitor players' physical loads in real-time.
In addition, the higher knockout rate in the group stage after expansion has diminished the tension of "life-and-death" battles in previous World Cups. During the "32-team era," only 2 teams from each group of 4 advanced, and the last round of group matches often determined qualification, with intense competition and tactical battles.
In this tournament, the group stage "four out of two" format...