Fixing World Cup Qualifying
My favorite sporting event is two weeks away. What makes the World Cup so magical? Is it the four year wait, the sporting equivalent of waiting for a delicious brisket sandwich? Is it the blending of cultures, a world market played out in the frame of sport? Is it the individual brilliance of stars, new and old, shining on the biggest stage? In fact, the more that I think about it, the best thing about the World Cup is...not the qualifying process. Sorry, I misled you. I love almost everything about the World Cup, but the qualifying sucks. Not only does the process take several years, occurs in the middle of club soccer season, and consists of large league-like play rather than a knockout tournament like the Cup, it draws little fan interest (compared to the Cup itself). So I'd propose a new format that increases excitement and acts more as a continuation of the tournament rather than a drawn-out, years long qualifying process. Besides, there's a strange disconnect between winn