Shadowing Practice: What if ALL COUNTRIES Joined the WORLD CUP? - Learn English Speaking with Video
Creating lesson...
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The World Cup has been held every four years since 1930.
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All countries compete to participate in this tournament, but only 48 teams qualified for the 2026 World Cup.
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In recent years, FIFA has been planning to increase this number to 64.
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So, only 25 % of all countries in the world can participate in the tournament.
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Still, because the tournament is held every four years and qualifying is so difficult, the World Cup is considered football's most important tournament.
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But what if every country could participate in the World Cup?
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If you're subscribed, let's find the answer to this question.
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There are exactly 211 countries officially recognized by FIFA.
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Today, the vast majority of these countries watch the World Cup only on TV.
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In our scenario though, no one is left out.
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Everyone takes their place directly on this grand stage.
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But the first major problem immediately arises.
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How will we fit 211 teams into a single tournament?
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In 2026, 48 teams played a total of 104 matches, and the tournament lasted about 40 days.
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In our scenario though, with preliminary rounds, group stages, and knockout matches, the tournament would last for months.
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A single World Cup, including qualifiers, would feature over 400 matches, roughly four times the number of matches in 2026.
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Even today, the calendar is quite packed in World Cup years.
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If the tournament were spread out over months there would be
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little time left for other events leagues would start late regional tournaments would barely find a spot
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and club's summer preparation period would virtually disappear football's biggest tournament would turn into an event
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that completely dominates an entire year now let's look at the
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real change on the field in this scenario smaller teams would have a better chance of success in the tournament
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because there would be far more matches and far more possibilities
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A team like Brazil could face a team like Anguilla in the same tournament, or even in the same group, and this scenario, which we rarely see today, would become the norm.
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Just imagine, Vinicius Jr. would be facing an amateur defender who works a day job, and in a World Cup match no less.
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The draw itself would be a problem on its own.
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Today, pots and groups are easily arranged, but drawing lots for 211 teams would take hours.
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There would be months of debate over whether to implement rules
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to prevent the strongest teams from facing the weakest ones in the first round.
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But I think FIFA would deliberately allow those matchups because fans eager to see plenty of goals would love those games.
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Remember that famous match in 2023 when France beat Gibraltar 14 -0?
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There's no such score in World Cup history because smaller teams are eliminated before the tournament even begins.
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In our scenario, matches like that would become the norm.
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Seeing a few matches with scores over 15 in every tournament wouldn't surprise anyone.
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This system could have become an advantage for countries like Italy.
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This four -time world champion has failed to qualify for the last three World Cups.
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In 2026, they were eliminated by Bosnia and Herzegovina in a penalty shootout.
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In our scenario, countries that have left their mark on football history, like Italy, wouldn't face the misfortune of missing the tournament because of a single bad game.
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In fact, under such a system, not seeing Italy in the tournament would be the biggest surprise in history.
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A historic showdown took place at the 2026 World Cup.
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First, Messi broke Miroslav Klose's all -time World Cup scoring record of 16 goals, reaching 21.
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Then, Mbappe reached 22 goals with two goals against England in the third -place match, taking the record from Messi.
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Since Messi failed to score in the final, Argentina lost 1 -0 to Spain, and he had no chance to reclaim the record now imagine
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the same race in a 211 team tournament world cups would be high scoring affairs
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and players like mbappe and holland would score dozens of goals in every tournament
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if holland scored five goals in a single match it wouldn't
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make headlines anymore it would just be considered an ordinary game
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who knows maybe even just fontaine's single tournament record of 13 goals
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which no one has surpassed since 1958 would be broken within
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the first week this would also be a huge opportunity for Ronaldo and Messi.
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Ronaldo became the first player to score in six different World Cups in 2026 and is very close to 1 ,000 goals.
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Messi has long since surpassed 900 goals.
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In this scenario, both could easily surpass 1 ,000 goals thanks to the goals they'd score against smaller teams in the World Cup.
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In fact, by the time this duo retired, 1 ,000 goals would no longer be considered a new milestone, but rather a routine goal.
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For star players like Mbappe, the new target would be 2 ,000 goals.
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Of course, this raises the following question.
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Is a hat -trick against Gibraltar worth the same as a single goal against Brazil, fans would likely start distinguishing between these goals.
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Still, the World Cup would remain the most important tournament for players in terms of racking up goals.
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No striker would want to miss this opportunity, and they'd all aim to leave the tournament with as many goals as possible.
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Major teams, on the other hand, would have to adopt a different strategy in such a long tournament.
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Teams with a deep roster of quality players, like France, could field entirely reserved squads early in the tournament.
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It would make a lot of sense to give reserves a
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chance to play in order to reduce the risk of injuries to star players like Mbappe and Olyse.
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That's why the number of players included in the expanded roster would likely be increased.
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The current 26 -player roster could expand to as many as 35.
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Head coaches would now have to carefully plan which players to rest for which matches.
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Plus, under such a system, a young player could gain World Cup experience early in his career.
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Hosting the tournament, though, would cause major chaos.
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This would mean over 400 matches, dozens of stadiums, and accommodations for hundreds of teams.
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It would become nearly impossible for a single country to handle this alone, and costs would skyrocket.
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That's why multiple countries would co -host the tournament.
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Perhaps entire continents would host the tournament, much like the joint organization by the United States, Canada, and Mexico in 2026, but on a much larger scale.
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So what would this tournament mean for smaller teams?
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For them, even reaching the quarterfinals would be a major achievement.
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Just imagine making it into the top eight out of 211 teams.
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Morocco's run to the semifinals in 2022 is still being talked about years later.
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Cape Verde also made it to the round of 32 in its debut and faced Messi, and that alone is a story in itself.
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In our scenario, surprising scores could have emerged in matches where smaller teams faced off against bigger ones.
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Even scoring a single goal against a big team fielding its reserves would have been cause for celebration in that country.
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A tournament this long would also have been a source of frustration for clubs.
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Major clubs like Real Madrid might not want to send their star players to a tournament lasting months, or they might demand that their players only participate in a specific part of the tournament.
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In this scenario, club presidents would strongly oppose the idea of losing their players for two or three months.
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Perhaps the stars would only join after the preliminary rounds were over.
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In this situation, the risk of injury for players trying to play through most of the tournament would increase significantly.
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If a tournament lasting several months were piled on top of a player who's already exhausted from a full season, injuries would come one after another.
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Even today, many stars start the new season fatigued after the World Cup.
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In this scenario, it would be nearly impossible for players to take a vacation.
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Let's not forget the people behind the scenes either.
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Hundreds of referees and a VAR team working at every stadium would be needed for over 400 matches.
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It would be no surprise for referees to grow fatigued and make mistakes during a tournament lasting months.
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Even now, matches disputed due to a referee's mistake are talked about for weeks.
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In that scenario, a new referee controversy would arise every day.
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So what would be the impact of all this on football?
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Football's global popularity would increase significantly, because now every country, even the smallest island, would see its World Cup dream come true.
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Children would play in the streets wearing their national team's jerseys, and even in countries with little interest in football,
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investments in stadiums, youth development programs, and coaches would begin.
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No one could watch every single one of the hundreds of matches from start to finish, but everyone would follow their own country's matches and the games featuring the top team.
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Especially in smaller countries, everyone would gather around the TV for that match.
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Because the people of that country would be seeing their flag at the World Cup for the first time.
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This would greatly contribute to the globalization of football.
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But this excitement comes at a cost.
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What makes the World Cup so special is how difficult it is to qualify.
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Today, just a team's participation in the World Cup is enough to send a country's people pouring into the streets.
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If everyone participated, some of that excitement would be lost participation would become routine
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and winning would turn into an exhausting marathon in the middle
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of a slew of matches in the end having every country
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participate in the world cup would make football much more crowded much higher scoring
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and much more chaotic but what makes the world cup
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so valuable is the struggle to get there
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so what do you think about this how many teams do
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you think should play in the world cup share your thoughts in the comments
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if you enjoyed the video don't forget to like and subscribe to the channel see you in the next alternative football scenario.
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Goodbye.
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Speaking Goals for This Clip: Mastering Fluency in Hypothetical Scenarios
This video is perfect for practicing how to talk about "what if" situations—like imagining a World Cup with every country! You’ll learn to describe complex ideas (tournament structures, player performances) in a conversational flow, which is key for fluency. Whether you’re chatting about sports or sharing creative ideas, this clip helps you build confidence in explaining detailed scenarios.
Phrase Bank: Reusable Expressions to Sound Natural
- "In our scenario though..." – Great for shifting to a hypothetical situation.
- "The vast majority of..." – Useful for talking about most of a group.
- "Turn into an event that completely dominates..." – Describes how something becomes all - consuming.
- "Become the norm" – Means something common or expected.
- "Take the record from..." – Perfect for discussing achievements in sports or other areas.
Fix Your Weak Spots: Pronunciation & Rhythm for Smooth Speech
This video is ideal for practicing the shadowing technique (repeating phrases right after the speaker) to improve your pronunciation and rhythm. Notice how the speaker stresses words like "TOURNAMENT," "QUALIFYING," and "HISTORIC" to emphasize key points. Also, pay attention to the flow of long sentences—pausing slightly after commas or phrases like "In recent years" to sound natural. Words like "Anguilla" (an - GWI - lah) and "Gibraltar" (ji - BRAL - tar) can be tricky; use the video to mimic their correct pronunciation. With shadowspeaks practice, you’ll learn to speak with the same clarity and pace as the narrator, making your English sound more polished. Remember, learn English with videos like this one, and focus on shadow speech to turn these skills into habits!
Grammar in this video
The structures the speaker uses most, with the exact words from the video:
| Structure | In the video |
|---|---|
| Passive voice be + past participle — the focus is on what happens, not who does it | has been held · is held · is left |
| Present perfect have/has + past participle — a past action that still matters now | has been held · has failed · have left |
What is the Shadowing Technique?
Shadowing is a science-backed language learning technique originally developed for professional interpreter training and popularized by polyglot Dr. Alexander Arguelles. The method is simple but powerful: you listen to native English audio and immediately repeat it out loud — like a shadow following the speaker with just a 1–2 second delay. Unlike passive listening or grammar drills, shadowing forces your brain and mouth muscles to simultaneously process and reproduce real speech patterns. Research shows it significantly improves pronunciation accuracy, intonation, rhythm, connected speech, listening comprehension, and speaking fluency — making it one of the most effective methods for IELTS Speaking preparation and real-world English communication.