Germany has successfully qualified for the knockout stage of the FIFA World Cup. The tournament bracket is complex and opaque, making it difficult to predict the next opponent.
FIFA must determine the best third-placed teams to fill the round of 32. This creates a timing issue, as some teams could have only 40 hours between matches. To ensure fair conditions, FIFA relies on a complicated set of rules that includes 495 different combinations for the round of 16.
The confusion around the bracket shows that expanding to 48 teams has undermined clarity. A proposal from the South American confederation even suggests a 64-team World Cup to improve the situation.
Source: www.zeit.de
