Cape Verde aside the 48 team Group stages meant several teams were badly out of their depth but there were some great games to balance it out. Any move to 64 teams would be catastrophic.

The first two knockout stages were enjoyable. Quarter finals onwards were ruined by the obvious bias in refereeing and VAR use. Hydration breaks. Halftime shows. Shit temporary pitches. The Somali ref. The treatment of Iran. The overturned Balogun suspension. The clear protection of Argentina and Messi to sustain US interest given he is now the face of the MLS. So much that FIFA got so badly wrong.

Overall the whole thing was tainted by politics, money and giant egos. Possibly the worst WC taken in totality since the last time we let the Yanks mess it about. I watched less and less as the tournament progressed which reflected my growing disillusionment at what was unfolding. It will be remembered mainly for the off-field controversies IMO.