JS96 said:

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I am so angry - why fucking make a second Nations League almost. Why is it so hard to just do 8 groups with the top 2 qualifying. Why?

JS96 said:

World Cup 2030 qualifying: Uefa to split major and minor nations

Uefa will create a two-tier qualification process for the 2030 World Cup which will mean major countries will no longer play minor nations such as San Marino, Gibraltar and Andorra.

www.bbc.com

Look at Group B here. Israel and Georgia will just be out like standard groups would probably have them anyway.

I don't mind the idea of a league system but the distribution teams is flawed. Maybe it's not different to some qualifying groups?

Let me guess, the system would prevent you playing against your direct pot opponent? So if it's 6 batches if 2 from each pot then Germany wouldn't play Portugal, rather you play teams from each other pot or then some other mix?

Something had to eventually be done about the minnows despite the romance.

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The way I've heard it explained would be something akin to:

Germany for example, as a 'worst case scenario draw' (each group split into the current FIFA rankings) would play England, Croatia, Turkey, Hungary, Georgia and Finland. But not all home and away - it would be maybe - England home, Croatia away, Turkey away, Hungary home, Georgia home, Finland away. And that's qualifying.

JS96 said:

That does seem more challenging for the bigger nations but there are too many good teams who'll then have to go via a playoffs.

I personally have tired of the current model due to the same teams drawing each other too often and some big nations having easy groups.

The last one was too rushed and the small groups were a joke. Thanks Nations League.

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6 groups of 7, 2 of 6. Depending who is hosting the World Cup of course. Home and away, top 2 qualify, no playoffs. 10-12 games for each country, and takes 7 international windows. Simple

JS96 said:

2022 was groups of 5 or 6. The 7 just makes it naturally competitive and a top 2. Sick of these playoffs. If UEFA want playoffs then it should immediately be against another confederation.

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With the exception of South America and Oceania, I'd personally like to see the amount of groups correlate with how many qualifiers there are, and fuck off playoffs as much as possible.

UEFA can have 8 groups with top 2 qualifying
We (AFC) can have 4 groups with top 2 qualifying (and 3rd places into the playoffs)
CONCACAF can have 3 groups with top 2 qualifying (and 3rd places into the playoffs)
CAF is the tough one as 9 is an odd number - but it works well with the overall amount of nations in the confederation - so their format can stay as it is (9 groups, winners qualify, runners up into the playoffs)
CONMEBOL just keep the league structure (although I hear there are talks about splitting them into 2 groups of 5)
OFC - considering they don't get much football - should realistically do the same as CONMEBOL, rather than playoffs to get into the two groups of 4, and then playoffs again. However, I don't see much wrong with their format, other than everything is single round-robin and single leg knockouts.

I should get a job for FIGC - I found the perfect excuse for Italy.

Liverpool.

1981: Pope dies. Liverpool win European Cup. Oceania nation qualifies for next years world cup
1982: Italy win world cup

2005: Pope dies. Liverpool win Champions League. Oceania nation qualifies for next years world cup
2006: Italy win world cup

2025: Pope dies. Liverpool do not win the Champions League. Oceania nation qualifies for next years world cup
2026: Italy get foksmashed out of qualifiying

It's clearly Liverpool's fault