Too many mismatches, too many dead rubbers, not enough shocks, mediocrity rewarded and players worn out – sorry, but this World Cup is just too big.

When it comes to World Cups, you either go all-inclusive, or better still, you showcase the best of the best. In terms of teams, this tournament will do the latter, but not until early July, by which time too many of the elite players will be drained or injured.

They might not be the only ones worn out by then. Keeping the interest of the occasional fans football looks to convert every four years could be a challenge.

If you were naive enough to think FIFA president Gianni Infantino was doing it for the right reasons, not just to buy votes at his next election, you could see a laudable logic behind allowing more minnows to take their place at the top table – the next six weeks are about spreading the beautiful game, after all.

Yet FIFA have manage to created comfortably the biggest World Cup ever, and simultaneously make it the least inclusive for supporters. President Trump's aggressive immigration policies are part of that, of course, but world football's governing body cannot hide behind it – it is the ridiculous pricing they have waved through which has set the unwelcoming tone.

Attendances are admittedly high, but fleshed out with rich people lured by a once-in-a-lifetime experience, not packed with those who actually love the sport. Every Mexican wave around the ground makes this feel like a plastic World Cup.

A tournament run by the people charged with nurturing the global game should look at the bigger picture. That does involve giving countries like Curacao and Cape Verde a chance to dream but it almost means protecting the people who play it.

Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo and Luca Modric are playing in this World Cup 20 years after their first. The latter pair are in their 40s, the former still brilliant but a walking footballer these days. Even with sports science in the 21st Century, how many future outfield players will be able to match their longevity?

MISMATCHES: Curacao were seriously outclassed in their 7-1 defeat to Germany (Image: Molly Darlington/Getty Images)

placeholder image — MISMATCHES: Curacao were seriously outclassed in their 7-1 defeat to Germany (Image: Molly Darlington/Getty Images)

England's Declan Rice and Bukayo Saka are already creaking after an excessively long season winning the Premier League and reaching the final of an also far too big European Cup; 26-year-old Phil Foden is at home looking burnt out. A couple of years of non-stop football appears to have caught up with Cole Palmer too. The world would have enjoyed seeming them at their best on the grandest stage.

If any of the world's top players make it through seven games in the searing summer heat on the back of hectic club seasons, what kind of final will we see? The last one was a cracker, but it was in mid-season with a fraction of the draining travel and one fewer knockout round.

Even 48 teams is just over 20 per cent of FIFA's footballing nations but there are more efficient ways of whittling them down to one than 104 matches. Under this format there is the very real possibility that Scotland could progress to the last 32 without adding to the two shots on target they have had so far in this tournament. Two thirds of the way into the second round of matches, they currently have the second-best record of the third-placed teams. With the best eight going through, a respectable defeat to Brazil should do it.

At least they will go through having won a game, others will not have.

OVERPLAYED: Arsenal and England's Bukayo Saka and Declan Rice are not at their best even one game into the tournament (Image: Richard Pelham/Getty Images)

Yes, you might say, but 48 teams has allowed Curacao and Cape Verde their moments in the sun, and this should not be dismissed out of hand. But they have been draws, not wins. Forty matches in, Paraguay are the only bottom-ranked team in their group to win a game, nicking a 1-0 off a Turkish team who battered them. Only four games have been won by teams lower in the pre-tournament FIFA rankings, and it is debatable whether Ghana (73) and Ivory Coast (33) should have been below Panama and Ecaudor anyway. It has hardly been a tournament for the underdogs so far.

Meanwhile, Curacao conceded seven to Germany and Qatar shipped six to Canada. Sweden – having sneaked in through the most backdoor of qualifications – have won and lost 5-1, and there have been a couple of 4-0s.

There will be more thumpings in the last 32 just as there regularly are in the first knockout stage of the European Cup because having two thirds of the teams qualify from a group stage is just too many.

If you want romance, go FA Cup-style and have 64 or even 128 teams play a straight knockout.

HIGHLIGHT: Capeo Verde goalkeeper Vozinha celebrates a clean sheet in the draw against Spain but shock wins have been vey scarce (Image: Buda Mendes/Getty Images)

Otherwise, use the qualifiers to pare it down to an elite tournament with jeopardy from the start. Thirty-two teams in eight groups just worked.

Having head-to-head records as a tie-breaker when teams are level on points is fairer, but it means Haiti, Turkey and Tunisia are already out before England's tournament has really got going, Mexico, USA and Germany are already guaranteed to win their groups, never mind reach the last 32. For their own sake, they should play reserve teams in their final group matches – is that what football wants?

No format will ever be perfect and this tournament has not been without its moments of fun so far, but for the good of the game can we please try to get back to the best versus the best at their best?