Marcotti: Time to revamp CAF qualifying

[Ayo Akinfe]

[1] I do not agree with Marcotti that three of Africa's strongest teams were in the same group
[2] From what we have seen from Cameroon and Algeria, they have no business at the World Cup
[3] There is no evidence to suggest that Africa's five strongest teams will not be qualifying for Russia 2018
[4] Having said that, I am a big fan of the South American league structure
[5] I think Uefa has the next best structure where every team gets to play in a league
[6] My biggest worry with the Caf structure is that teams that gets knocked out early are not really part of the process
[7] Caf has 56 teams and five World Cup slots. Why not have five leagues of 11 teams (One team will always back out)
[8] Let the winners of these five leagues go to the World Cup
[9] As they say - The league table never lies. This structure will produce the best
[10] The only problem is that it will be very taxing. Can our boys handle it?

[theYemster]

I have always been a fan of a league system. However Africa is huge and travel costs could be taxing on teams so we'll likely see many withdrawals. The only way a league system can work will be for FIFA/CAF to cover the travel costs and offer incentives for teams to compete to the end even if they're out of contention. Perhaps get some form of "bonus points/credit" for completing all matches that can be used in the future.

The qualifiers can be scheduled in such a way that the back to back games are against geographically proximate countries to reduce travel time/costs.

[Bigpokey24]

I have always been a fan of a league system. However Africa is huge and travel costs could be taxing on teams so we'll likely see many withdrawals. The only way a league system can work will be for FIFA/CAF to cover the travel costs and offer incentives for teams to compete to the end even if they're out of contention. Perhaps get some form of "bonus points/credit" for completing all matches that can be used in the future.

The qualifiers can be scheduled in such a way that the back to back games are against geographically proximate countries to reduce travel time/costs.

Enough with the prehistoric excuses of Africa is huge , do people still travel by buses? South America is also huge. EUROPE, ASIA ETC the league structure is the best..In South America, they start their qualifiers 2 years before the worldcup

[Ayo Akinfe]

I have always been a fan of a league system. However Africa is huge and travel costs could be taxing on teams so we'll likely see many withdrawals. The only way a league system can work will be for FIFA/CAF to cover the travel costs and offer incentives for teams to compete to the end even if they're out of contention. Perhaps get some form of "bonus points/credit" for completing all matches that can be used in the future.

The qualifiers can be scheduled in such a way that the back to back games are against geographically proximate countries to reduce travel time/costs.

Enough with the prehistoric excuses of Africa is huge , do people still travel by buses? South America is also huge. EUROPE, ASIA ETC the league structure is the best..In South America, they start their qualifiers 2 years before the worldcup

Let's be real though. Many African nations would struggle to afford 10 away games in a qualification series. Not everyone is like Nigeria, South Africa, Cameroon, Egypt, Algeria, Ghana etc who have the budget for sports. I remember George Weah having to fund the Liberian national team from his personal pocket.

Do you really for instance expect a country like Somalia, Burundi, Guinea-Bissau or South Sudan to be able to afford such an investment? What return are they getting for the outlay?

[The Eagle]

Why are they talking about revamping the CAF qualifiers now when World Cup 2026 which the one after Qatar 22 will host 48 teams and will have more African nations and so the format will have to change!

Well, the same idea would apply to a 9-spot Africa as to a 5-spot Africa. Instead of nine, single-qualifier, 4-team groups guaranteed to be unbalanced thanks to CAF's ever-amusing methods of drawing groups, there could be four 8-team groups, with guaranteed qualification for the top two finishers, and a two-round play-off between the four third-place teams.

[Workman]

We don't need a league system (only Conembol has it bc it's only 10 countries). The playoff system Marcotti suggested is the only change CAF needs to add. It does not mean anyone is trying to favour any nation. It just tries to account that no system for seeding and grouping is perfect - (forget the names; some groups may just have stronger teams than others) so teams that finish 2nd can face off as a second chance (bc a group that had more than 1 in-form team).

[theYemster]

I have always been a fan of a league system. However Africa is huge and travel costs could be taxing on teams so we'll likely see many withdrawals. The only way a league system can work will be for FIFA/CAF to cover the travel costs and offer incentives for teams to compete to the end even if they're out of contention. Perhaps get some form of "bonus points/credit" for completing all matches that can be used in the future.

The qualifiers can be scheduled in such a way that the back to back games are against geographically proximate countries to reduce travel time/costs.

Enough with the prehistoric excuses of Africa is huge , do people still travel by buses? South America is also huge. EUROPE, ASIA ETC the league structure is the best..In South America, they start their qualifiers 2 years before the worldcup

Africa Land Area: 30,370,000 km2
Countries: 54

South America Land Area: 17,840,000 km2
Countries: 12

Europe Land Area: 10,180,000 km2
Countries: 50

Not only are Europe and South America both significantly smaller than Africa, there are only 12 countries in South America. Even though Europe has 50 countries, most of them are significantly smaller in land area; and they have much better interconnection and are significantly wealthier than most African countries. Most of them can afford the travel costs.

[The YeyeMan]

I have always been a fan of a league system. However Africa is huge and travel costs could be taxing on teams so we'll likely see many withdrawals. The only way a league system can work will be for FIFA/CAF to cover the travel costs and offer incentives for teams to compete to the end even if they're out of contention. Perhaps get some form of "bonus points/credit" for completing all matches that can be used in the future.

The qualifiers can be scheduled in such a way that the back to back games are against geographically proximate countries to reduce travel time/costs.

Enough with the prehistoric excuses of Africa is huge , do people still travel by buses? South America is also huge. EUROPE, ASIA ETC the league structure is the best..In South America, they start their qualifiers 2 years before the worldcup

Africa Land Area: 30,370,000 km2
Countries: 54

South America Land Area: 17,840,000 km2
Countries: 12

Europe Land Area: 10,180,000 km2
Countries: 50

Not only are Europe and South America both significantly smaller than Africa, there are only 12 countries in South America. Even though Europe has 50 countries, most of them are significantly smaller in land area; and they have much better interconnection and are significantly wealthier than most African countries. Most of them can afford the travel costs.

You're explaining all that to a guy who thinks Munich is in Belgium. No chance!