Ghana are in the knockout stage of the World Cup. They did not win a game to get there. They lost 2-1 to Croatia on Saturday.
That defeat, under the tournament’s new 48-team format, was good enough. The Black Stars advanced as one of the eight best third-placed teams from the group phase.
A pathway that did not exist before. Their manager, Carlos Queiroz, is not celebrating. The Portuguese coach called the expansion a risk.
He said it could turn the World Cup into a “vulgar, ordinary competition.” He said this after his own team used the new rule to survive. He did not blink at the irony.
Queiroz has been around. He managed Portugal. He managed Real Madrid.
He has seen football change. He sees this change as a trade. Money for meaning.
“Today, money talks,” he told a news conference. “In the game, money talks.
This is called not football but Moneyball. When money starts to talk, the decisions inside the pitch start to change. Let’s see in the future what will happen.” He is right about one thing.
Money is talking loudly. FIFA sold the expansion as a way to grow the game.
More nations. More broadcast revenue. More teams from Africa, Asia, and the Americas.
The math works for the accountants. The tournament now has 48 teams instead of 32. That means more matches.
More broadcast slots. More sponsorship inventory.
The results on the pitch reflect the new math. A record nine out of ten African teams advanced to the next round. That includes Ghana.
Queiroz acknowledged the African surge. He did not change his mind.
His core argument is about scarcity. “I do believe that what really has huge value, huge and significant value, is [that which] is rare,” he said. “I’ve never seen in my life common things, ordinary things that come with huge value.” He has a point.
The World Cup was special because it was hard to reach. Only the best got in. Now the bar is lower.
More teams means more games. More games means more fatigue.
Queiroz raised player welfare as a concern. The extra fixtures add strain to squads already packed with club and international matches. Players run more.
Recover less. Risk injury.
The irony of Ghana benefiting from the system while their manager attacks it is not lost. But Queiroz is not being hypocritical. He is being consistent.
He said the expansion cheapens the tournament. He said it turns a rare event into an ordinary one. He said it is driven by money, not sport.
Nothing about Ghana’s advancement changes that analysis. They are a symptom of the problem, not a solution to it.
FIFA’s commercial push is clear. The World Cup is a product. More teams means more markets.
More markets means more money. The expansion is a business decision dressed up as a development initiative.
Queiroz called it bluntly. “Money talks.” Ghana will play in the next round. Their fans will cheer.
The tournament will continue. But the manager’s words will linger. He raised a question the organizers do not want to answer.
If the World Cup becomes ordinary, what makes it the World Cup? If everyone gets in, what is the achievement?
Queiroz has been in football for decades. He has seen trends come and go. He sees this one as a mistake.
He said it plainly. “Let’s see in the future what will happen.”
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