RohitBhandiye
PANAJI
The2026 edition of FIFA World Cup is currently in its knockout stage.Former champions Brazil and Germany and former runners-up Netherlandsand Croatia are out of the World Cup.
Accordingto Goan football legend Bruno Coutinho thestandard of world football is on the rise.
“Footballhas become very competitive. The performance of smaller nations atthe World Cup has shown that. Every team is now better prepared.There are few easy games. You can see the results of the matches inthe knockout stage. Anyone can win on a given day. One silly mistakeand you are out of the tournament,”Bruno Coutinho, former captain Indian football team told The Goan.
Hefurther added “I am really impressed by the performance of Africannations such as Cape Verde, Congo, Egypt, Morocco and South Americanteams such as Colombia and Paraguay. A small nation like Cape Verdehaving very less population almost knocked defending championsArgentina out of the World Cup.”
CapeVerde’s performance has shown that even smaller nations can competewith the best with the right planning, right investment andself-belief. It has nothing do with population.
TheArjuna Awardee expressed happiness regarding FIFA’s decision toexpand to 48 teams in this edition of the World Cup.
“FIFAhas done a good thing by allowing 48 teams to play in the World Cup.Now, more teams are getting a chance to play. And World Cup issomething which is completely different where top teams from theworld get a chance to prove their worth. And it comes once in fouryears.”
“Idon’t think quality has suffered because more nations areparticipating. The performance of smaller nations has shown thatfootball is getting developed everywhere,” Bruno said.
Inthis World Cup, 9 out of 10 African nations qualified for theknock-out stage.
“Mostof the African players play in top European leagues in countries suchas England, France, Spain, Belgium, Germany, Italy. There arehundreds of them playing over there. So, they get good exposure. Theyget matured early. When you play in Europe, you get acclimated tothat style. So, from a young age, they are playing in Europe. At theage of 18-19, they go over there. It helps a lot in the overalldevelopment of a player,” Bruno said.
ButAsian teams have faltered. Only 1 out of 8 teams from Asia made it tothe knockout. Although a lot of players from top football playingAsian countries such as Japan and South Korea play in Europe, theyhave failed to produce world-class footballers on the level par withsome of the top European, South American or African players.
“Asa continent, I think Asia is not doing that well. We are laggingbehind. Only Japan qualified for the knockout this time. Though Japanhas a lot of players playing in Europe, “ Bruno said.
Theformer India football captain expressed his disappointment that Indiais struggling to qualify for the World Cup.
“Duringour time during 90’s decade, India was ranked 101 in FIFA rankings.Now, we are 138. This shows our standard has gone down. We need tohave at least 40-50 Indian players play in Europe since young age.When you play against better teams, then only your standard willimprove. Then you can see India also qualifying for the World Cup oneday. But, for India to qualify for the World Cup, first we need to beamong top-10 in Asia. Then only we have a chance. Now, we are 26thin Asia. So that becomes really difficult,” the Arjuna Awardeesaid.
