Would you miss international football if it finished or lost its appeal?

[KeithPratt]

Given the vast amount of money being chucked at footballers as business interests, there may come a point when they will be excluded by their clubs from representing their country because of the fact that the matches pose too much of a risk. These players themselves, especially if the quality of the occasions, such as the World Cup and the various continental competitions, jut too much into the rhythms of their clubs (and paymasters) may eventually lose interest in playing international football.

We all know that the top tier of club football now surpasses international football in terms of quality. Perhaps in England we are jaded by the fact that we've been shit at it for years. But there seems to be an emerging narrative, say in the Premiership, where the excitement of international football taking place has essentially inverted. For years it was "ah England are playing", now it's "oh shit it's international football, can't wait until the Premiership is back on". You see players and pundits say it on a regular basis.

Of course this is only from an England perspective and a deliberately jaded one.

[Rayge]

I would gladly see international football disappear tomorrow, an opinion I've held for decades now. Apart from the poor quality of the football, I find the jingoism and hand-wringing surrounding matches and the performances and membership of the 'national team' (not in MY name) very tiresome.
But that's from an extreme anti-nationalist perspective .

[WG Kaspar]

I wouldn't miss it at all, but I don't see how it's gonna stop as long as it makes huge heaps of money for FIFA and UEFA.

[bhoywonder]

Absolutely! I love the world cup like I did as a child. I'd still rather Scotland won the World Cup than Celtic won the European Cup (again), and I prefer traveling abroad with Scotland than Celtic. Traveling abroad to watch Scotland is extremely good fun.

[Goat Boy]

International tournaments are the only free footy I get to see these days!

[sloopjohnc]

I wouldn't miss it at all, but I don't see how it's gonna stop as long as it makes huge heaps of money for FIFA and UEFA.

Bingo!

From a US perspective, MLS soccer TV ratings are up 40% on average from last year and Premier league viewership is up 26% from last year on NBC.

But the World Cup is a big draw for the casual US soccer fan. Many folks who wouldn't dream of watching even an MLS or Premier League match, will tune in to the World Cup.

If the World Cup were somehow diluted, I don't know if it would have the draw even though the US team might go further.

[Jumper K]

Never watch it. I have no connection with or care whatsoever about the English team or international players. Or some of the morons who follow it religiously to espouse their xenophobic rascits views whilst ruining other people's enjoyment of it. Get rid of it, support your local team, don't give a penny to the fat cat owners or the FA.

[Graham Murakami]

It's 100 times better than the Champion's League and I would miss it massively. I just wish they wouldn't stop the Championship for it.

[northernsky]

Perhaps in England we are jaded by the fact that we've been shit at it for years. But there seems to be an emerging narrative, say in the Premiership, where the excitement of international football taking place has essentially inverted. For years it was "ah England are playing", now it's "oh shit it's international football, can't wait until the Premiership is back on". You see players and pundits say it on a regular basis.

Of course this is only from an England perspective and a deliberately jaded one.

I think it is (mostly) an English perspective. For smaller European nations, international competition - including the qualification process - is still an important signifier of the health of the national game, and even beyond that, the wider sporting culture. Getting to the finals is a battle, and being at them is a bit of a party, where even if there is no hope of ultimate success, there is always the chance of an extraordinary result that makes the world sit up and notice.

It feels like - just throwing this out there - there was a shift in England through the dog days of Capello's time. Here was a coach with impeccable credentials, or as close to it as you can get, installing the discipline that was perceived to be wanting and redeeming the qualification fiasco of 2008. But he was a bit of a cold fish and the team was difficult to warm to. Then they arrive at the World Cup and provide the most wretchedly inert, inept performance imaginable. Never mind the dissection by Germany, England-Algeria 2010 is the worst international match I have watched, and I've sat through Sweden-Moldova. Add to that the subsequent unpleasantness over England's brave captain of the time, and the coach's eventual departure.

Since then English failures in major tournaments have, oddly, tended to follow qualifying groups where they have finally tended to do as Spain and Gemany have done for a generation - breeze through winning 8-10 of 10 matches. So for two years it feels as if nothing is at stake in any given match. Combined with continued mediocrity at the tournament finals, I can see that it might get very wearing indeed.

[Spec]

Yes, and no.

I'd miss the finals. The World Cup in Brazil was great and although much of Euro2016 was poor I enjoyed watching Iceland, Northern Ireland and Wales plus a few others. And there is something of a guilty pleasure in having 40+ matches to watch in a month in July when the sun is shining and the nights are short.

But the endless international breaks are hideous and the quality of the qualifiers in Europe terrible. If they could be cut or concentrated then I'd be happy.

Clearly the two statements above don't work together - you can't have the Finals without the qualifiers unless there was a concentrated qualifying tournament in the year before a Finals. But that would also be awful and reduce the impact of the finals and mean players never get a break.

[borofan]

It's 100 times better than the Champion's League and I would miss it massively. I just wish they wouldn't stop the Championship for it.

And stop Scotland raising a team?

[...]

Clearly the two statements above don't work together - you can't have the Finals without the qualifiers unless there was a concentrated qualifying tournament in the year before a Finals. But that would also be awful and reduce the impact of the finals and mean players never get a break.

The way EUFA and FIFA keep on expandking the finals it might soon be possible to do away with the qualifiers altogether.