Many of you will be World Cup regulars, savoring the wealth of talent on show every four years. But for some of The Athletic’s readers, this may have been your first experience of global soccer’s premier competition.
You may have been impressed by Kylian Mbappe, Lionel Messi or Harry Kane’s attacking prowess, or felt the expanded tournament featuring 48 nations, up from the previous 32, made it feel like a truly worldwide event.
The United States team itself sparkled at times before exiting the tournament in the last 16, while the vast majority of stadiums have looked mainly full, despite the high cost of match tickets. There have been controversies, but in terms of the action on show, there can be few complaints.
So if this has been your first experience of the World Cup, what would you change? The draw for the group stage? How the knockout games are arranged, the stadiums used, where each team plays and when? Would you expand the tournament even further? Play it over a longer period? Or take it back down to 32 countries?
Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.
