South American captains call for format change for World Cup Qualifiers

It seems that the format of the Conmebol World Cup qualifiers, as we know it, would change in the next edition. Taking advantage of the fact that there will be 48 places available for the 2026 World Cup, 6 of them for Conmebol, the captains of each South American team have been in contact to draw up a proposal that will convince Conmebol and, at the same time, the directors of FIFA, according to information revealed by the Brazilian newspaper Globo Esporte, where they say that the first contact between players occurred before the Copa América 2021.

The one who would be leading this move would be Brazilian captain Thiago Silva. For the Chelsea defender from England, the big problem of the qualifying rounds is the great trips between country and country. “It's not just 18 games, but the trips we make. That's a lot of mileage compared to Europeans who play very close together and with little transfer,” says the Chelsea defender in a few words quoted by Globo Esporte. “That's a lot of wear and tear, besides the climate, totally different from Europe,” he says.

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Faced with this situation, the 2019 Copa América champion has a solution to find a balance in these trips, which “would undoubtedly facilitate our stay and our performances”. The possibility that the ten Conmebol captains want to pose to the regional and world football authorities, is the creation of two regional groups between countries that are nearby, as was proposed the Copa América based in Argentina and Colombia. According to the experienced central defender, most players consider such trips as “unnecessary”.

The Brazilian media indicates that the captains have a group on WhatsApp and have even met virtually to discuss the proposal that would change the qualifiers to the format in which they were held between 1970 and 1994. That changed course to France 1998, when for the first time a round-robin format was played.

“We had a meeting with FIFA and it looks like there will be a change in the format of the Qualifiers. Who am I to change this? The order comes from above,” revealed Marcelo Moreno Martins, captain of Bolivia. “FIFA is the one who decides, but I think it's good, valid, it's going to be interesting, because the players aren't going to spend much time traveling and returning to the national teams,” added the striker.

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The idea is that each group will have five teams and play 8 games in total throughout the world cup cycle. The top three from each zone would win the direct quota and a match between the quarters would define the one sent to play the repechage organized by FIFA. This would allow more possibilities for teams that have been far from the World Championship, such as Venezuela, the only team on the continent that has never attended the orbital event.

That would be, more or less, the plan to change the next qualifiers, in the absence of determining the time in which the eight games would be played. So, one of the most exciting tournaments in the world of football, would change. This is what the Portuguese José Mourinho had defined it at some point, “qualifying matches in Europe bore me; while those in South America motivate me. I really like football, not playing for the sake of play. And in the South American qualifiers, football is serious,” he said.

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