The irony of international cricket is that while the motivation for lower-ranked teams is to improve by playing against top teams, that of two of the stakeholders, television and the International Cricket Council, is money. The interests of the sport therefore often take a backseat.

The last 50-over World Cup (in 2023) had only 10 teams, and was criticised for this. Fine, said the International Cricket Council, we will have 14 in 2027. The teams will be divided into two groups playing round robin thus guaranteeing the Associate members (those who are not Test-playing) at least six matches each.

The Netherlands beat South Africa and Bangladesh in the World Cup, indicating the gap between teams may not be as wide as imagined, and with greater exposure, some teams could measure up. The Netherlands haven’t played any of the 12 Test-playing countries since then. Still, they expected to get their chance in the expanded version.

Oh no, said the ICC. There may be 14 teams, but the “inconsequential” matches will be done away with. A governing body known for shifting the goalposts (if you’ll pardon the metaphor) has changed them again. The ICC has announced that the World Cup will be held in three stages, the first involving a round-robin among three qualifiers of whom only one will qualify.

This team then joins the top eight-ranked teams, the two Test-playing hosts (South Africa and Zimbabwe; Namibia miss out), the winners of the qualifying tournament and the winners of the first round robin, making 12 teams, which is effectively when the World Cup actually begins. The three-team qualifier has merely been tagged on to the main event, and bears no relationship with it.

The 12 will be divided into two groups, with the top three teams and the best finisher among the rest qualifying for a ‘Super Seven’ who then play a round robin. The four top teams get into the semifinals.

India-Pakistan factor

To change the format 15 months ahead of the World Cup with no assurance it won’t be changed again brings no credit to the ICC. Guaranteeing at least two India v Pakistan matches, perhaps even three, is a strong motivation. World tournaments seem merely backdrops to the real thing: India v Pakistan.

That match is the ICC’s biggest money-spinner both for the baggage it carries and because the countries don’t currently play bilateral series. If television is to be kept happy, the spread of the game will have to be pushed into the background. Television may not directly dictate to the ICC, but the governing body knows what it likes. And if it means Scotland, Netherlands, and a host of Associate members will have to be satisfied with the crumbs, the ICC sees that as a small price to pay.

It will be interesting to see if India and Pakistan are placed in the same group before the round of 12 commences. After all, they have been in the same group for 12 consecutive global events now (perhaps the ICC uses a magic hat for the draw). What if, drawn separately, Pakistan do not qualify for the Super Seven? The ICC might be loath to take such chances. This makes a mockery of a World Cup, but that too is a price the ICC is willing to pay. The ICC was badly scarred at the 2007 World Cup where both India and Pakistan were eliminated in the group stage and television viewership dropped by 50%.

The new format means that the top teams get to play more matches (if they get to the final), and the Associates fewer overall. Football showed in its World Cup how expanding the number to 48 showcased teams like Cape Verde which brought a special flavour to it. Greed and personal aggrandisement might have been the motivation there, but it was good for the game.

Kenya beating twice world champions West Indies in 1996, Ireland beating England in 2011 are just two of the more dramatic results in the World Cup. Upsets are good for the sport, but not always for television. When what is good for one is also ideal for the other, we will finally have a World Cup that is equitable. And the magic hat can be done away with.

Any further expansion of the World Cup, increasing ‌the number of teams participating at the finals to 64, will be discussed after ​this year’s edition, FIFA president Gianni Infantino said without providing any details.

The 2026 finals ⁠in Canada, Mexico, and the United States have seen 48 teams for the first time, a decision that was heavily criticised but which has not provoked much debate since the tournament kicked off on June 11.

“These are all ‌issues that we will be examining after the World Cup,” Infantino, who successfully pushed for the expansion of the finals from 32 teams, told Swiss television outlet Blue Sport.

He did ‌not elaborate, saying only: “I think it is important that when you want to organise a ‌World ⁠Cup, you do it for the whole world — not just Europe and South America, but ⁠effectively the entire world.

“Every nation should be allowed to dream of participating in the World Cup. You can see that the quality of the teams is extremely high and it’s getting higher and higher, all over the world.

“If you don’t give smaller ​countries a chance to participate in the ‌World Cup, they’ll lack the incentive to keep improving.”

Infantino hailed the 48-team tournament as a success, saying: “Every team played at a high level. Teams from every continent scored goals and earned at least one point.

“Nine out of 10 African teams reached the knockout stage. At the last World Cup, ‌there were only five teams from Africa. That just goes to show how important it ​is to include all teams, to give them this opportunity to participate,” he added.

The size of the World Cup field was increased to 32 teams in 1998. The ⁠next finals in 2030 are to be co-hosted by Morocco, Portugal and Spain, and the 2034 tournament will be in Saudi Arabia.

Infantino defends hydration breaks and ticket prices

Infantino, who rarely gives media interviews and has limited ‌his number of formal press conferences, admitted that introducing hydration breaks during each half, which many have seen as a cynical attempt to help television partners get more advertising revenue, had proved controversial.

“This is a topic that sparks a lot of debate. After all, we don’t want to get everything perfect; we like to give everyone something to disagree with… no, joking aside. Last year, during the Club World Cup in the USA, there were cooling breaks whenever it was very hot.

“These short breaks occurred in ‌about 60% of the matches but not in the other 40% because the temperature wasn’t as high. There were many ​complaints, as the feeling was that all teams should face the same conditions,” he said.

He also defended the high ticket prices at the World Cup, saying: “The stadiums are full; ⁠capacity utilisation is at 99.7% and it will likely reach 99.9% by the end.

“Experts determined the ticket prices ⁠before the tournament. Our experts worked on that and told us: ‘These are the prices you can go with’. We see the proof now: prices that some people claimed were too high ‌are being resold on the secondary market —which is perfectly legal here — for four or five times the original cost.”

Infantino said he expected FIFA to generate a total of 13 to 14 billion ​Swiss francs ($16.08 billion to $17.32 billion) from the 39-day World Cup. “That is quite satisfactory,” he said.