The expansion of the Euro Cup to 24 teams is exciting
Grigory Telingater June 27, 2024, 17:30 Moscow time Audio version: Your browser does not support the audio element.
Grigory Telingater is quick to present evidence.
The group stage of Euro 2024 has ended. It was the third time in the history of the European Championship that they managed to reach the playoffs from third place. Expanding the tournament from 16 to 24 teams seemed like a dubious decision, but it no longer seems that way. It was Euro 2024 that finally convinced us of this. And there are several arguments here.
Let’s start with the obvious. At least eight euro-qualified countries benefited from enlargement. It’s not entirely clear which teams we’re talking about, but they definitely exist. We can say that this includes the Georgian national team, which for the first time in history reached a major football tournament. See how they watched the games in Tbilisi.
If you have this guy in front of you who emotionally parodies Cristiano Ronaldo, can you tell him: “It wasn’t necessary to expand the tournament to 24 teams”? Okay, maybe you can, but I think the argument is clear. The benefits of these eight countries have been resolved. What do the rest of us get?
Really cool:
Video
Georgia is ecstatic after the national team has reached the Euro 2024 playoffs. This is what happiness looks like
If you look at Georgia, then of course there is brilliant football (in some places it’s crazy). The unbiased eye will clearly like it. We also see how small countries in terms of football generate intrigue. Albania took points from Croatia, so they did not advance further. And there are many similar examples. At Euro 2020, Switzerland eliminated France, and at Euro 2016, Iceland sent home the English. That is, these additional commands cannot be called zero. Of course, there are some mediocre ones among them, but they are also among the best teams. Let’s not point fingers.
Although we will…
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One more detail that is important to highlight. The expansion of the tournament increases its audience. This is important for advertisers and for the industry as a whole, which must develop. It is difficult to estimate the volume of specific investments in football related specifically to the expansion to 24 teams. And it’s even harder to estimate how many kids will be interested in the game, but there are clearly more now than when there were 16 teams in the tournament.
And here we come to the absolute disadvantage: the busy football calendar. The best players play too many games per season, which leads to injuries. But are the changes really that big? First of all, they won’t affect everyone. Only the finalists will play a maximum of seven games. Thanks to an additional phase (only the round of 16 were added), not 31, but 51 matches are played in the European Championship. A very significant expansion of the tournament with a minimal increase in the burden on the players. In addition, the national team roster has been expanded to 26 people and five substitutions can now be made (plus a sixth in extra time in the playoffs). Coaches have more flexibility in rotation to reduce the risk of injury and fatigue.
Portuguese national team players
Photo: Lars Baron/Getty Images
Starting with the 2026 World Cup, the number of participants in the tournament will increase from 32 to 48 teams. Maybe one day we will come to the conclusion that this is also a good thing. Although no, this is kind of stupid.
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