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As is so often the case, FIFA led the way. Back in 2017 when football's world governing body decided to increase the number of teams competing at the World Cup from 32 to 48, its president Gianni Infantino found it easy to justify the seismic change.

"We are in the 21st century and we have to shape the World Cup of the 21st century," said Infantino of the first change since 1998 to the structure of the world's most perfect sporting event. A change that will come into effect at the next renewal, the 2026 tournament in the United States, Canada and Mexico.

"It is the future. Football is more than just Europe and South America, football is global."

Infantino, bolstered by the unanimous backing of his council, was easily able to frame this as a democratic and inclusive move, rather than the watering down of FIFA's showpiece event to bolster TV rights and secure backing in future elections, as campaign group New FIFA Now argued.

"The football fever you have in a country that qualifies for the World Cup is the biggest promotional tool for football you can have," said Infantino, ignoring the counter-argument that a bloated tournament featuring more weaker teams may struggle to retain its allure.

For the neutral viewers (among which we in this country have had to count ourselves since 2002, alas) it also becomes a less attractive product. The memorable 2022 tournament in Qatar - which was not without its own issues - consisted of 64 games. The next World Cup will feature 104 games, as will the 2030 tournament, which will bizarrely be hosted in six countries across three continents.

How quaint to think Jack Charlton qualified Ireland for a 24-team World Cup and before the 1980s it was a 16-team tournament.

It may be a trend-setter, but FIFA is not alone here. Sporting expansionism is a worldwide problem - tournaments are out of control.

This week we learned the famously lean Rugby World Cup will add four teams in 2027 to bring it to 24 participating countries.

The pool stages of this year's event featured an average scoring margin of 31.6 points per game, so it's unclear what is to be gained by admitting four more teams, other than that fuzzy ambition of "growing the game".

"This incredible Rugby World Cup 2023 tournament has demonstrated the passion and potential that lies beyond the top 10 or 12 nations," according to World Rugby chairman Bill Beaumont. "If we think big and think inclusive. It is not acceptable to accept the status quo. Not acceptable to do nothing."

The cynics among us may say the next instalment in Australia will feature an extra four games (52) to figure out which one of New Zealand and South Africa will be crowned champions, while the optimists will note the introduction of a round of 16 does offer up the real prospect of Ireland winning a first-ever knockout game.

The Cricket World Cup is happening right now. Don't worry, if you've missed the first 28 group stage games there are another 17 still to be played.

The format, adopted four years ago, sees all 10 teams play each other in a league format to identify four semi-finalists. What it lacks in efficiency it gains in attractiveness for those of us who appreciate some unobtrusive background sport during our working day: one game a day for a month and a half with little enough action of consequence as of yet. Apart from defending champions England being all but eliminated.

To be fair to the International Cricket Council (ICC), the current tournament is smaller in terms of teams and games (48) than previous incarnations, which have featured up to 16 teams and 54 games. But it is going back up to 16 teams in 2027.

Of course, we are not immune to this expansionism closer to home either. The group stages of the Tailteann Cup and Sam Maguire have seen the number of Gaelic football championship matches balloon from 60 to 99 in the space of 12 months.

Coupled with splitting the season into inter-county and club-only segments it has greatly increased the number of games to be played in a more narrow window, but perhaps the GAA was one sporting organisation where the training-to-games ratio was skewed too much in favour of the former.

However the GAA have not increased the number of televised games to reflect this increase in matches, which causes problems that the likes of FIFA could not even fathom. Plus the players' union, the Gaelic Players Association, are calling for pre-season tournaments to be done away with to reduce the strain on players.

It is football however - thanks to years of obscene TV rights deals - where the most supersized supersizing has happened. Before 1980 the Euros featured four teams and perhaps Ireland's greatest footballing achievement was to qualify for the eight-team Euro 88. From 1996 to 2012 it was satisfied with 16 teams and 31 games, but since 2016 (when we last qualified) it has been a 24-team tournament with 51 games.

The European Championships will come to these shores in 2028 and there are some who would like to see it expanded to 32 teams, as 24 is not a neat number for any knockout tournament - relying as it does on ranking third-placed teams to fill the round of 16.

But when you consider there are only 55 UEFA members you can see how this is all getting out of hand.

The Champions League is another UEFA competition undergoing a mutation. From next season the tournament will adopt the 'Swiss Model' - last seen bamboozling rugby fans in the Champions Cup - resulting in four more teams (36) and SEVENTY-FOUR more games (189) than this year's competition.

Before we even get to the proposed 32-team Club World Cup you already have global union FIFPRO baulking at the 12-month schedules that see elite players like Mo Salah play 70 matches in the 2021-22 season, or young talents like Bukayo Saka flogged by club and international managers to the point where the attacker played in 87 consecutive Premier League matches for Arsenal.

Are more games what the sport needs?

Away from the questionable merit of introducing more Champions League group stage matches into the world, there are the environmental issues.

Whether it is hosts India playing in nine different cities during the pool stages of the Cricket World Cup, or planeloads of players, staff and fans flying across the Atlantic several times to mark the centenary of the first World Cup, or four more countries flying to Australia to make up the numbers at the next Rugby World Cup, all this expansion has a knock-on effect on the climate crisis.

Which brings us to post-growth economics. The theory is catching hold in recent years as the climate crisis worsens, with academics and even some politicians coming to the realisation that the quest for never-ending growth is not helpful in efforts to cut emissions and reduce reliance on carbon fuels.

At the start of the decade economic anthropologist Jason Hickel expressed the hope that "in the 2020s, we can expect that the climate movement will rally around the Green New Deal and a vision for a completely new economy".

Thus far this decade sport has proved itself to be more Reaganite than post-growth, but with even the Premier League TV rights auction - the goose that laid the golden proverbial - showing signs of a slowdown, is it likely that fans will vote with their eyeballs and their wallets?

The law of diminishing returns is another well known economic theory, known to laymen as 'too much of a good thing'.

In this respect it is likely sport is nearing its own tipping point.

Read more:
Sporting expansionism: Tournaments are out of control - RTE.ie

In the ICC World Cup 2023 points table, the Netherlands have advanced from the 10th to the eighth position following a comfortable 87-run victory over Bangladesh.

The Dutch team secured their second win in the competition, accumulating a total of four points from six matches.

Bangladesh has endured their fifth consecutive defeat in the 2023 World Cup. As a result of this loss, the team led by Shakib Al Hasan has descended to the ninth position in the standings. The Tigers now possess only two points after six games.

The defending champions, England, have slipped from the ninth to the 10th position in the 2023 World Cup points table. The Netherlands occupied the 10th spot before their encounter with Bangladesh, but they have now climbed to the eighth position, pushing England to the bottom.

The updated points table is below

Currently, the top four teams in the 2023 World Cup points table are South Africa, India, New Zealand, and Australia. Earlier today, New Zealand and Australia clashed at the HPCA Stadium, with the Aussies narrowly defeating the Black Caps by five runs in a thrilling contest.

India have the opportunity to claim the top position tomorrow. The home team, India, will face England, who are in the 10th position, in Lucknow. If India can overcome the defending champions, the Men in Blue will ascend to the number one spot in the standings with 12 points. A victory against England would almost guarantee India a spot in the semifinals.

Conversely, England is in a do-or-die situation, with every forthcoming match acting as a knockout game for them. Having suffered defeats to South Africa, Afghanistan, and Sri Lanka in their previous three matches, England face an uphill battle in the tournament.

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ICC World Cup 2023 points table after Netherlands beat Bangladesh - Geo Super

KANSAS CITY, Mo. Vlatko Andonovski was dejected after the U.S. Womens National Team, which he had coached for four years leading up to the 2023 FIFA Womens World Cup, went 1-0-2 during group play and then lost on penalty kicks in their first knockout game.

It didnt matter that Sweden, which eliminated the USWNT, went on to finish third or that the team was a strange mix of aging stars nearing retirement and teenagers.

The USWNTs worst-ever finish at the World Cup fell on Andonovskis shoulders, so he resigned on Aug. 17, 2023 11 days after the loss, ending a tenure that included a bronze medal at the Tokyo Olympics and a 51-5-9 overall record.

The World Cup loss, a painful moment in an otherwise remarkable coaching career, came with a sliver of silver lining for Andonovski, who was announced Monday as the next head coach of the Kansas City Current.

One thing that hit me was how much this city the people in this city, the friends and my neighbors were behind me and supportive of me, he said. When I started the talks with Angie and Chris, I was very happy about the vision and the goals, but I was also happy that all those opportunities were in front of me in the city that gave me comfort in my hardest times. Im very thankful for it, and Im looking forward to repaying it.

Andonovski considered taking time off and he also fielded a handful of international offers, other NWSL offers and some offers to become an MLS assistant coach, but the opportunity with the Current was too perfect to pass up.

Walking out of there [for our first meeting], I was so excited, and the only thing I was thinking was, When do I start? How do I make this happen? And what can we do so I can start as soon as possible? Andonovski said. Right now, Im getting into this job refreshed and driven, hungry and motivated to create a club that will make a mark in womens soccer, not just in this country but internationally as well.

Originally from North Macedonia, Andonovski settled in Kansas City more than two decades ago.

He began playing for the Kansas City Comets indoor professional soccer team in 2001 and later coached the team before he was tapped as FC Kansas Citys first coach when the NWSL debuted in 2013.

Andonovski was the leagues 2013 Coach of the Year and led The Blues to back-to-back NWSL titles in 2014 and 2015 before the franchise folded after the 2017 season.

He spent the next two seasons with the now-OL Reign, where he again won NWSL Coach of the Year in 2019, before he was hired as the USWNT coach in October 2019.

Andonovski acknowledged that NWSL has changed since he left but noted that his USWNT role kept him close to the league, so he hopes to replicate his past success and bring new co-owners Chris and Angie Long along with Brittany Mahomes a few championships.

Im coming back to an organization that has a clear vision of what this team is going to look like and a clear vision of the path where this team needs to go, Andonovski said. Im humbled for the opportunity to be part of an organization like this, and I cant wait to get on the field and start building a team that will make this city proud.

Launched in 2021, the Current strive to be a mold-breaking franchise for womens professional sports.

Weve talked many times about our goal to be the best womens football club in the world, and everything that we do has that ambition, in my mind, Angie Long said. For me, though, its even more exciting when the best in the world is in your own backyard and the perfect fit for the club.

The Longs termed Andonovskis hiring as another step and investment as well as a momentous day in the franchises journey.

Were just really fortunate that timing-wise the stars aligned to make this happen, Angie Long said.

During a press conference last week to announce the naming rights for the clubs new home CPKC Stadium, which opens in March the Longs got to hear some of the feedback [on the hire] and it was unequivocally, unanimously positive, Chris Long said.

He said it spoke volumes to get that unsolicited feedback shortly after Andonovskis first meeting with the players.

Hes widely respected by players and soccer leaders across the landscape, Chris Long said. He has an endless work ethic and strives to not only win but also inspire and facilitate the development of his players.

Andonovski said hard work is not negotiable, noting that its part of Kansas Citys DNA and he wants it to be part of the Currents DNA as well.

But with players like Debinha and last seasons first-round pick Michelle Cooper, the Current will play with some flair, too.

Once you join this organization, it feels like you have no choice but to be bold and brave with the decisions that youre making, Andonovski said. This ownership group has shown us that in the past.

He pointed to launching the franchise in four months after the NWSL expanded back to Kansas City in December 2020, building a multi-million training facility, and constructing the worlds first stadium purpose-built exclusively for womens professional sports.

As a coach, I go with the mindset that I will be expected to make brave decisions, Andonovski said. I will be expected to make difficult decisions and face those decisions and challenges head-on, to embrace those challenges.

Andonovski said he believes the roster can compete for a championship and he wants to prove hes a championship coach still.

I may be even more driven and eager to start now and more motivated, Andonovski said.

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New Current coach Vlatko Andonovski hopes to repay city's ... - KSHB 41 Kansas City News

The Netherlands were runners-up at the 2019 Womens World Cup under Sarina Wiegman, the now-England manager who had guided her home nation to European Championship success on home soil two years earlier. Four years ago the Netherlands were, in truth, not entirely convincing in the group stage despite eventually winning all three games, and then squeezed through to the final with lots of late goals, including an extra-time winner against Sweden in the semi-final. They reached the second round in 2015, their first appearance at the World Cup.

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A guide to Group E at the Women's World Cup: The start of USWNT's toughest challenge yet?

After dismissing Englishman Mark Parsons following a disappointing European Championship last summer, the Netherlands appointed Andries Jonker. Hes had an eclectic career, mainly in mens football, including stints as an assistant for Barcelona, coach of Bayern Munichs B team, a period in charge of Arsenals academy and a spell as Wolfsburg boss.

Jonker has used both 4-2-3-1 and 4-3-3, and there was also an experiment with 3-5-2 in a friendly defeat to Germany in April. This group of players is probably best suited to 4-2-3-1.

Goalkeeper Daphne van Domselaar was the unexpected star at last years Euros, having been capped only once before the tournament, replacing Sari van Veenendaal because of injury early on in the opener against Sweden and making several spectacular saves throughout the tournament.

Jill Roord is a good all-round midfielder, feisty but creative, and able to put her side in charge of matches, while Lieke Martens is a few years past her peak she was named the best player in the world by FIFA in 2017 but still capable of dribbling forward purposefully down their left flank.

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Lieke Martens: My game in my words

Vivianne Miedema is arguably the worlds best striker, but an anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) knee injury last December rules her out. She is surely the single biggest loss for any side in this tournament.

An excellent midfield. Roord and Danielle van de Donk have looked revitalised since leaving Arsenal two years ago, shining for Wolfsburg and Lyon respectively (Roord recently moved again, returning to England with Manchester City). Damaris Egurrola plays the holding role well and Jackie Groenen brings further technical quality but will probably be a substitute.

Inevitably, its: how do they cope without Miedema? Replacement Lineth Beerensteyn is a completely different type of player whereas Miedema doesnt mind operating as a No 10 and likes coming deep towards the ball, Beerensteyn is a converted winger who loves sprinting into the channels. The game plan is going to be entirely different.

They finished top of Group C with few problems, although surprisingly dropped points against an otherwise-average Czech Republic side. In March, the Netherlands thrashed Poland but lost narrowly to Germany.

Group E pits the Netherlands against the side who defeated them in the 2019 World Cup final, USWNT. That game, in the second round of matches, will surely decide the winners of this group. The Dutch start with Portugal, while the final group game against Vietnam should be very simple. If they finish runners-up to the Americans, they could face Sweden in the round of 16.

Two matches in Dunedin and one in Wellington, before a trip over to Australia for a probable first knockout game, and then back to New Zealand again if they reach the quarter-finals. Dunedin will be by far the coldest host city in the tournament, so constantly shifting between different climates may be an issue.

Goals from various sources. Miedema cannot be adequately replaced but Martens has 59 international goals, Van de Donk 34, and three others have more than 20. They are capable of stepping up.

Sherida Spitse is now on an incredible 215 caps but, having spent her career in midfield, is more likely to be used in defence at this tournament.

(Top photo: Getty Images; design: Eamonn Dalton)

Read more:
Womens World Cup 2023: Netherlands team guide - The Athletic

This is another big match for the 'Caps, and another chance to lift a trophy.

Here's what you need to know about their newest foes.

The best team in the entire region.

That's not subjective, or hyperbole. Last month they were crowned Concacaf Champions League (now Concacaf Champions Cup) winners, claiming the title of best team in North America, Central America, and the Caribbean.

It was the same competition where the 'Caps made the quarterfinals this year, before being ousted by an LAFC team that many saw as the region's best team.

Not so fast. This Len team won both legs against LAFC in the final, ultimately taking the series 3-1 on aggregate.

Who are their key players?

Ecuadorian winger ngel Mena, now 35, is top 10 on Len's all-time scoring list with 73 goals since joining the club in 2019. For his country, he has made more than 45 appearances, including his most recent on June 20 alongside Pedro Vite, when the Whitecaps FC midfielder scored on his senior international debut.

Vctor Dvila is a force up front. The little Chilean has 33 goals since joining the club in 2021. For his country, the 25-year-old has made five appearances so far.

On the backline, William Tesillo leads the way. The Colombian international has made more than 150 appearances for the club since he arrived in 2018. On the international stage he has represented Colombia 30 times.

Have the 'Caps played a Mexican side before?

Yes, but only once before in official competition.

In 2017, the 'Caps made it all the way to the semifinals of the Concacaf Champions League, taking on the giants of the region and the highest spending club, Tigres UANL.

The 'Caps battled valiantly. After a 2-0 defeat in Mexico, the Blue & White scored inside the first five minutes at BC Place to cut it to 2-1. They had chances to tie it as well, but ultimately Tigres proved too strong and won the second leg 2-1, taking it 4-1 on aggregate.

The 'Caps will play their second Leagues Cup match on the road the following Saturday, July 29 at LA Galaxy.

The top two teams from their group will advance to the knockout rounds. If the 'Caps win the group, they will host their first knockout game back at BC Place on August 4.

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Who are Club Len? The best team in the region | Vancouver ... - Vancouver Whitecaps FC