Marquez slams World Cup expansion, urges India to focus on grassroots

Kolkata, Jul 17 (PTI) Spanish football coach Manolo Marquez has criticised the expansion of the FIFA World Cup, saying the move has come at the cost of "quality" and insisting that countries like India must focus on "grassroots development" rather than relying only on increased qualification opportunities. A 64-team model is being mulled for the 2030 centenary edition that will be hosted across six host countries -- Morocco, Portugal, Spain besides having the first three matches in South America (Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay). In an exclusive interview with PTI from Barcelona, the 57-year-old Spaniard, who had a difficult stint with the Blue Tigers, said India cannot expect better results against teams that rely heavily on naturalised players unless it addresses the same issue. "I think the difference is very clear. If India allow OCI players -- because at the moment the ground rules don't permit it -- then you'll see. Add two or three players, OCI, and India will get better results, 100 per cent," Marquez said. The former Hyderabad FC and FC Goa coach cited his own experience against Hong Kong to explain the gap created by different approaches to player eligibility. "All the teams should play under the same conditions. I'll give you one example. I remember my last game was in Hong Kong. Hong Kong had 14 out of 20 players in the list who were from outside. Then Hong Kong beat us 1-0 through a penalty in injury time. "Everyone said, incredible, the last time India beat Hong Kong 4-1. But when India beat Hong Kong 4-1, Hong Kong played with zero naturalised players. All of them were from Hong Kong." Marquez, however, stressed that naturalisation alone cannot replace a proper footballing structure. "The solution is to start from the grassroots," he said. "I think Bangladesh is working in a good way. Bangladesh is every time better in every category. When I watch U-17 and U-19 in the SAFF, they are better now than before. "And this is the problem now in India. But obviously, I don't want to speak because I was there and the results were not good enough." The Spaniard spent seven seasons in India, guiding Hyderabad FC to their maiden Indian Super League title before leading FC Goa to the Super Cup trophy and qualification for the AFC Champions League. He was later appointed India's national team coach, replacing Igor Stimac, while also managing FC Goa. But his tenure with the Blue Tigers was short-lived and marked by disappointing results, with India managing only one victory from eight matches -- against lowly Maldives in a friendly -- before he left the post in July 2025. Marquez's comments on India came while discussing his wider criticism of the expanded FIFA World Cup format, which he believes has affected the overall quality of the tournament. "I think maybe I am against the opinion of most people. I don't like this World Cup. In fact, I think more teams means less quality. This is my opinion, but this is FIFA's business," he said. "I think maybe I am against the opinion of most people. I don't like this World Cup. In fact, I think more teams means less quality." "I don't know if the next World Cup, or the one after that, will have 64 teams. At one moment, all 200 countries in the world will play the World Cup. "But in the group stage, for example, I don't find one single national team where you can say, 'Wow, this national team played very well during this World Cup.' I don't find one single team." The expansion to 48 teams created historic appearances for nations such as Cape Verde, Curaçao and Uzbekistan, while Congo and Haiti returned to football's biggest stage after long absences. The tournament also witnessed several surprises, with South Korea suffering a group-stage defeat against South Africa, Uruguay failing to progress after drawing with Cape Verde, and Morocco and Egypt making deep runs into the knockout stages. However, he questioned whether some of the emerging teams' success was a result of genuine development or the growing influence of naturalised players. "Yeah, but how many players are from Curaçao? They have 26 players in the squad and 25 are from outside Curaçao. Do you think this is fair?" he asked. "I was with a national team, and this is one of the reasons that, for me, it's very, very unfair. "If you remember, the last World Cup had 32 teams. Now there are 48, which means Asia had five slots before and now they have nine. "What happened? If you play against Indonesia, Syria, Sri Lanka, Hong Kong or Malaysia, they have a lot of Brazilian, Argentinian and Dutch players. "For me, either everyone plays under the same conditions, or nobody does. The global situation should be the same for everyone, not only for some countries." Acknowledging the achievements of the new entrants, Marquez added: "Yes, obviously, Cabo Verde had a fantastic World Cup. They drew against Spain and Uruguay. Curaçao qualifying for the World Cup is also very good. But if 25 players are from the Netherlands, then for me it's a tricky situation." Marquez further cited Spain's own journey as an example of why long-term planning remains crucial. Spain began the tournament slowly, drawing 0-0 against debutants Cape Verde, before improving steadily and producing their best performance in a 2-0 semifinal victory over France. "Even Spain played a top game the other day against France, but before this game, they never played a very good game," he said. "And Rodri, obviously, had a big injury during the season. If you compare him with other players who played 60 or 70 games during the season, he arrived fresher than most of the players." PTI TAP TAP AH AH