Thirteen national football associations criticize UEFA President Aleksander Ceferin after reported comments in which he said the expanded 48-team World Cup would produce “completely uninteresting” matches. The criticism is set out in a joint statement from associations including newcomers Cape Verde, Curacao and Uzbekistan, alongside federations from countries such as Algeria, Egypt, Ghana, Morocco, Senegal, South Africa, Tunisia, Democratic Republic of Congo, Haiti and Ivory Coast. The teams say they “respectfully but firmly reject” the remarks and argue that every World Cup match has meaning for the countries involved, including the players, coaches, clubs, football leaders and supporters who invest in the tournament. They add that suggesting some matches are less important is “deeply disappointing” and fail to reflect the efforts and ambitions tied to qualification. The reports that prompted the response cite Ceferin linking the tournament expansion to a dilution of quality, while other reporting also quotes him saying smaller countries can still participate and “feel the pulse” of the World Cup. When contacted, a UEFA spokesperson did not explicitly deny the comments and pointed instead to a recent interview in which Ceferin made no mention of World Cup expansion.