Carlos Queiroz, the 73-year-old manager, successfully led Ghana to the knockout stage of the World Cup but expressed strong disapproval of the tournament’s new format. Ironically, his team benefited from the expansion of the competition.
Despite a 1-2 loss to Croatia in their final group match, Ghana secured a place in the next round as one of the best third-placed teams, accumulating four points from matches against Panama (1-0) and England (0-0).
The Black Stars advanced due to the competition’s expansion; under the previous format in place for 28 years (from 1998 to 2026), Ghana would have been eliminated.
Queiroz criticized the new qualifications, stating, “I believe that value appears when things are rare. The number of teams that can qualify for this competition might turn it into something vulgar and banal. If so many teams can qualify, can we still talk about rare value? I find this debatable, but that’s just my opinion.”
The coach further emphasized, “Currently, true success in South America would be not qualifying. Who in Europe hasn’t qualified? Qualifying rounds are beginning to lose their relevance if everyone can qualify. Qualification should be something serious, very difficult, and highly competitive.”
He argued that the World Cup should be a significant event, something extraordinary. “Nowadays, money talks in football. Where we once discussed football, now we talk about moneyball,” he added, as reported by The Athletic.
In South America, Queiroz pointed out that six of the ten national teams qualify for the World Cup, with a seventh going to an intercontinental playoff.
This marks Queiroz’s fifth consecutive World Cup appearance. He previously managed Portugal in 2010, where they were eliminated by Spain in the Round of 16, and he coached Iran in 2014, 2018, and 2022. Now he leads Ghana.
Queiroz: ‘The Real World Cup Starts Now’
Ghana’s next match will be against Colombia.
“I just told my players that the real World Cup starts from the next round. The group stage is just the warm-up, and qualifying for the knockout stage is like a credit card—you must now start paying,” Queiroz said, looking ahead to the knockout rounds.
“The winner takes all; every match is a drama, and no one can hide anymore. Everything starts from the next match,” he concluded as he anticipates the elimination phase.
