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Restructuring FIFA (World Cup Qualifiers and Confederation Members)

NicCarBel

NicCarBel

First Team Regular
Joined
Oct 17, 2024
Replies
755
I've had across a few of the qualification threads referring to how, if I had my way, would restructure FIFA (in terms of member make up and confederation structures) in relation to the World Cup and it's qualifiers. So figured having a central spot for all of this would be better (plus, it allows me to have more of a back up then my word doc, that I can access on my phone if I ever want to discuss with anyone).

I've essentially narrowed down to two options, where I've gone into a bit of detail about the members, qualification make up, etc below. But, the TLDR of the two options are:
OPTION 1: AFC absorbs OFC, and then splits into 'East + Oceania' and 'West'; Some of CONCACAF goes into CONMEBOL to have more even members/distance; Some of UEFA goes into 'West Asia'
OPTION 2: AFC absorbs OFC, CONCACAF and CONMEBOL merge into one.

OPTION 1​

Restructure of FIFA’s confederations and relevant qualifying paths for the FIFA World Cup.
  • OFC to be absorbed into AFC
  • AFC to split into two confederations:
  • Pacific Football Confederation (PFC) – OFC + East Asia
  • Central West Football Confederation (CWFC) – West Asia + small amount of countries from UEFA
  • CONCACAF and CONMEBOL to restructure to have roughly even member numbers and distance between furthest north-south
Updated member numbers for confederations (full members only)
  • PFC – 32
  • CWFC – 30
  • CONCACAF – 22
  • CONMEBOL – 23
  • UEFA – 50
  • CAF – 54
Updated member numbers for confederations (if all associate members became full members)
  • PFC – 35
  • CWFC – 30
  • CONCACAF – 25
  • CONMEBOL – 26
  • UEFA – 50
  • CAF – 56
New Slots for a 48 team World Cup:
  • PFC – 5 direct slots
  • CWFC – 5 direct slots
  • CONCACAF – 6 direct slots
  • CONMEBOL – 6 direct slots
  • UEFA – 16 direct slots
  • CAF – 9 direct slots
  • 1 additional slot for the host confederation.
Qualifying paths – non-host cycles – based off current full members only:
  • PFC
    • Round 1 (2 matches): Bottom 4 ranked nations playoff in a home-and-away tie, with the winners advancing to Round 2.
    • Round 2 (10 matches): The top 28 ranked nations, plus the 2 winners from Round 1, are drawn into 5 home-and-away round robin groups of 6, with the winners of each group qualifying for the World Cup.
  • CWFC
    • Final Round (10 matches): All nations drawn into 5 home-and-away round robin groups of 6, with the winners of each group qualifying for the World Cup.
  • CONCACAF
    • Round 1 (2 matches): Bottom 8 ranked nations playoff in a home-and-away tie, with the winners advancing to Round 2.
    • Round 2 (10 matches): The top 14 ranked nations, plus the 4 winners from Round 1, are drawn into 3 home-and-away round robin groups of 6, with the top 2 of each group qualifying for the World Cup.
  • CONMEBOL
    • Round 1 (2 matches): Bottom 10 ranked nations playoff in a home-and-away tie, with the winners advancing to Round 2.
    • Round 2 (10 matches): The top 13 ranked nations, plus the 5 winners from Round 1, are drawn into 3 home-and-away round robin groups of 6, with the top 2 of each group qualifying for the World Cup.
  • CAF
    • Final Round (10 matches): All nations drawn into 9 home-and-away round robin groups of 6, with the winners of each group qualifying for the World Cup.
  • UEFA
    • Final Round (10 or 12 matches): All nations drawn into 8 home-and-away round robin groups of 6 or 7 (6 groups of 6, 2 of 7), with the top 2 of each group qualifying for the World Cup.

OPTION 2​

Restructure of FIFA’s confederations and relevant qualifying paths for the FIFA World Cup.
  • OFC to be absorbed into AFC
  • CONCACAF and CONMEBOL to merge and form the Pan-American Football Confederation (PAFC)
Updated member numbers for confederations (full members only)
  • AFC – 57
  • PAFC – 45
  • UEFA – 55
  • CAF – 54
Updated member numbers for confederations (if all associate members became full members)
  • AFC – 60
  • PAFC – 51
  • UEFA – 55
  • CAF – 56
New Slots for a 48 team World Cup:
  • AFC – 10 direct slots
  • PAFC – 12 direct slots
  • UEFA – 16 direct slots
  • CAF – 9 direct slots
  • 1 additional slot for the host confederation.
Qualifying paths – non-host cycles – based off current full members only:
  • AFC
    • Round 1 (2 matches): Bottom 14 ranked nations playoff in a home-and-away tie, with the winners advancing to Round 2.
    • Round 2 (8 matches): The top 43 ranked nations, plus the 7 winners from Round 1, are drawn into 10 home-and-away round robin groups of 5, with the winners of each group qualifying for the World Cup.
  • PAFC
    • Round 1 (2 matches) Bottom 6 ranked nations playoff in a home-and-away tie, with the winners advancing to Round 2.
    • Round 2 (12 matches): The top 39 ranked nations, plus the 3 winners from Round 1, are drawn into 6 home-and-away round robin groups of 7, with the top 2 of each group qualifying for the World Cup.
  • CAF
    • Final Round (10 matches): All nations drawn into 9 home-and-away round robin groups of 6, with the winners of each group qualifying for the World Cup.
  • UEFA
    • Final Round (10 or 12 matches): All nations drawn into 8 home-and-away round robin groups of 7 (with one group of 6), with the top 2 of each group qualifying for the World Cup.
----------------------------------------------------------

Updated members list for each relevant confederation for OPTION 1 (PFC, CWFC, UEFA, CONCACAF, CONMEBOL)
  • PFC
    • Japan
    • South Korea
    • Thailand
    • China
    • Malaysia
    • Australia
    • Vietnam
    • Singapore
    • Hong Kong
    • Indonesia
    • Philippines
    • Cambodia
    • Myanmar
    • Chinese Taipei
    • North Korea
    • Mongolia
    • Macau
    • Laos
    • Brunei
    • Timor-Leste
    • Guam
    • American Samoa
    • Cook Islands
    • Fiji
    • New Caledonia
    • New Zealand
    • Papua New Guinea
    • Samoa
    • Solomon Islands
    • Tonga
    • Tahiti
    • Vanuatu
  • CWFC
    • Saudi Arabia
    • UAE
    • Qatar
    • Iran
    • Uzbekistan
    • Iraq
    • Jordan
    • Bahrain
    • Oman
    • India
    • Turkmenistan
    • Kuwait
    • Lebanon
    • Tajikistan
    • Kyrgyzstan
    • Bangladesh
    • Syria
    • Maldives
    • Palestine
    • Bhutan
    • Nepal
    • Sri Lanka
    • Afghanistan
    • Yemen
    • Pakistan
    • Russia
    • Georgia
    • Kazakhstan
    • Azerbaijan
    • Israel
  • UEFA
    • Albania
    • Andorra
    • Armenia
    • Austria
    • Belarus
    • Belgium
    • Bosnia and Herzegovina
    • Bulgaria
    • Croatia
    • Cyprus
    • Czech Republic
    • Denmark
    • England
    • Estonia
    • Faroe Islands
    • Finland
    • France
    • Germany
    • Gibraltar
    • Greece
    • Hungary
    • Iceland
    • Italy
    • Kosovo
    • Latvia
    • Liechtenstein
    • Lithuania
    • Luxembourg
    • Malta
    • Moldova
    • Montenegro
    • Netherlands
    • North Macedonia
    • Northern Ireland
    • Norway
    • Poland
    • Portugal
    • Republic of Ireland
    • Romania
    • San Marino
    • Scotland
    • Serbia
    • Slovakia
    • Slovenia
    • Spain
    • Sweden
    • Switzerland
    • Turkey
    • Ukraine
    • Wales
  • CONMEBOL
    • Argentina
    • Bolivia
    • Brazil
    • Chile
    • Colombia
    • Ecuador
    • Paraguay
    • Peru
    • Uruguay
    • Venezuela
    • Aruba
    • Barbados
    • Costa Rica
    • Curacao
    • Dominica
    • Grenada
    • Guyana
    • Nicaragua
    • Panama
    • St Lucia
    • St Vincent and the Grenadines
    • Suriname
    • Trinidad and Tobago
  • CONCACAF
    • Anguilla
    • Antigua and Barbuda
    • Bahamas
    • Belize
    • Bermuda
    • British Virgin Islands
    • Canada
    • Cayman Islands
    • Cuba
    • Dominican Republic
    • El Salvador
    • Guatemala
    • Haiti
    • Honduras
    • Jamaica
    • Mexico
    • Montserrat
    • Puerto Rico
    • St Kitts and Nevis
    • Turks and Caicos Islands
    • United States
    • US Virgin Islands

  • List of non-FIFA members (that are members of a confederation) and where they would be placed (OPTION 1 / OPTION 2)
    • Northern Mariana Islands (PFC/AFC)
    • Reunion (CAF)
    • Zanzibar (CAF)
    • Bonaire (CONMEBOL/PAFC)
    • French Guiana (CONMEBOL/PAFC)
    • Guadeloupe (CONCACAF/PAFC)
    • Martinique (CONMEBOL/PAFC)
    • Saint Martin (CONCACAF/PAFC)
    • Sint Maarten (CONCACAF/PAFC)
    • Kiribati (PFC/AFC)
    • Tuvalu (PFC/AFC)
 
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Well put together and a lot to take in. Interest mix of West Asia and UEFA. I mean hey, West Asia aspire to be better but they'd not want to be in a UEFA shadow.

I'd also like to see UEFA eat humble pie by seeing that it isn't a walk in the park. Villa flew to Dubai for a camp during the international break so it's not that far, right? I'm just having a jibe here about how they don't want a cup replay against, say, Colchester but will fly to Dubai for a camp.

Rivalries within a confed are great but I'D like to see something of a qualifying crossover with CAF and UEFA. More just get UEFA out of their bubble and play in more unique environments. It's a little ironic that a wealthy sport doesn't do this while Rugby sees the amateur Germany team have to fly all the way to Samoa.

I have generally felt West Asia, Turkey and North Africa need to combine to have something of an ME/ Arab cultural confed. There's a traffic channel going across there and the Arab cup is an enjoyable mix of styles. Perhaps then East Asia playoffs could clash with the rest of CAF given the Gulf is an easy transport hub but there are direct flights too.
 
JS96 said:
Well put together and a lot to take in. Interest mix of West Asia and UEFA. I mean hey, West Asia aspire to be better but they'd not want to be in a UEFA shadow.

I'd also like to see UEFA eat humble pie by seeing that it isn't a walk in the park. Villa flew to Dubai for a camp during the international break so it's not that far, right? I'm just having a jibe here about how they don't want a cup replay against, say, Colchester but will fly to Dubai for a camp.

Rivalries within a confed are great but I'D like to see something of a qualifying crossover with CAF and UEFA. More just get UEFA out of their bubble and play in more unique environments. It's a little ironic that a wealthy sport doesn't do this while Rugby sees the amateur Germany team have to fly all the way to Samoa.

I have generally felt West Asia, Turkey and North Africa need to combine to have something of an ME/ Arab cultural confed. There's a traffic channel going across there and the Arab cup is an enjoyable mix of styles. Perhaps then East Asia playoffs could clash with the rest of CAF given the Gulf is an easy transport hub but there are direct flights too.
Click to expand...
Yes that West Asia/Russia/ex USSR nations confederation I dreamed up - I was looking at including Turkey and North Africa as part of that, and using the Arab Cup as a bit of an influence to that. So I’m glad I’m not the only one that’s crossed its mind.


Re: Germany/Samoa Rugby qualifiers.. I think that’s what FIFA was looking at trying to instil with the new Intercontinental Playoffs Tournament - but I have a feeling it may be a bit of a dud in the end (no UEFA, for one reason) but I guess we’ll see how it goes. I don’t mind the idea of it for the Rugby (and League) World Cups, as the tournaments are much smaller. I don’t think it will work as well for such a larger tournament.
 
Personally I’d prefer World Cup qualifying to be restructured along the lines of how Davis Cup tennis used to be before its own revamp, instead of what’s been proposed above.
 
BA81 said:
Personally I’d prefer World Cup qualifying to be restructured along the lines of how Davis Cup tennis used to be before its own revamp, instead of what’s been proposed above.
Click to expand...
Regional knockouts until 16 remain worldwide?

If football was to go that route, would essentially be using all the regionalised Nations Leagues, but having a worldwide top 16 knockout comp. I’m sort of making a hypothetical set up based off the 2018 Davis Cup (the last of the revamp), but using current FIFA rankings for shits and giggles. Would still mean an Oceania/AFC merge, and a CONCACAF/CONMEBOL merge as well

Top 16 in the “World Group”, with each ‘region’ being split into ranked ‘Groups’ (not round robin groups, but knockout fixtures), where the first round losers are open to be relegated down a group, and the winners of the final round either being promoted, or playing off against a first round loser of the World Group.

Only issue with using that format though, is every year/World Cup would need to have a restructure of the lower groups, based off who wins/loses the World Broup relegation playoffs.

STRUCTURE
Using April 2025 FIFA Rankings:
  • World Group
    • Argentina
    • Spain
    • France
    • England
    • Brazil
    • Netherlands
    • Portugal
    • Belgium
    • Italy
    • Germany
    • Croatia
    • Morocco
    • Uruguay
    • Colombia
    • Japan
    • USA
  • The World Group is a 16 team knockout fixture, with the previous editions quarter finalists seeded into a bracket against the winners of the previous World Group Playoffs. Bracket is seeded into place from the beginning, with a hypothetical 1v2 final in place

  • Regions
    • Americas
      • Group 1 - knockout ties with top 8
      • Group 2 - knockout ties with 9-16
      • Group 3 - 2x round robin pools with 17-24
      • Group 4 - 2x round robin pools with 25-32
      • Group 5 - 2x round robin pools with 33-40
    • Asia/Oceania
      • Group 1 - knockout ties with top 8
      • Group 2 - knockout ties with 9-16
      • Group 3 - 2x round robin pools with 17-28
      • Group 4 - 2x round robin pools with 29-40
      • Group 5 - 2x round robin pools with 41-56
    • Africa
      • Group 1 - knockout ties with top 8
      • Group 2 - knockout ties with 9-16
      • Group 3 - 2x round robin pools with 17-28
      • Group 4 - 2x round robin pools with 29-40
      • Group 5 - 2x round robin pools with 41-53
    • Europe
      • Group 1 - knockout ties with top 8
      • Group 2 - knockout ties with 9-16
      • Group 3 - 2x round robin pools with 17-24
      • Group 4 - 2x round robin pools with 25-34
      • Group 5 - 2x round robin pools with 35-46
Notes regarding promotion/relegation
  • World Group
    • First round losers to be randomly drawn against the final 2 from each region’s Group 1, with the winners of each tie in the following tournament’s World Group, with the losers playing in the following tournament’s Group 1 of their region
  • Groups 1-2
    • First round losers of each Group playoff to determine the 2 nations relegated
    • Final 2 of Group 2 promoted to Group 1.
  • Groups 3-5
    • The ‘round robin’ pools for Groups 3-5 in each region are held in a single nation (one of the seeded nations for that group).
    • Winners of each pool will play against the runner up of the adjacent pool to determine promotion (2 promoted from each group)
    • Last place in each pool will play against the second last place from the adjacent pool to determine relegation (2 relegated from each group where applicable)
 
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