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Qualification would be based on 4 continents, with 18 teams qualifying directly. Each continent would also qualify another 3 teams, that would play a single game against a similar team from another country (these final 3 would be ranked so that the #1 would play a #3 from another continent, while #2s would be matched up against one another).

Qualification berths would be based on past performance in the World Cup. Example: Europe (6), Americas (5), Asia (4), Africa (3).

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Europe: 41 teams. qualifying 6, plus 3 2nd chance.

First round, 1 group of 6, 7 groups of 5 (format based on 8 groups of 6, to permit expansion). Top 3 in each group advance to 2nd round, bottom 2-3 in each group to Classification 25-48(41). Results against other teams advancing or classifying carry forward.

Second round, 4 groups of 6 in championship, 4 groups of 4 or 5 in classification (format permits expansion to 4 groups of 6). 3 additional games played. Top 3 in each group to 3rd round, bottom 3 to Classification 13-24. Classification, top 3 in each group to Classification 25-36, bottom teams to Classification 37-48(41). Results against other teams advancing or classifying carry forward.

Third round, 2 groups of 6 in each of Championship (1-12), Classification (13-24), Classification (25-36), and Classification (37-48(41)). Top 2, Next 2, and Bottom 2 go to respective classification groups (4 teams).

1st-4th. Semifinals, finals, and 3rd place game. All 4 teams qualify to World Cup.

5th-8th. Semifinals, 5th place, and 7th place. 5th and 6th qualify to World Cup, 7th and 8th to 2nd chance game.

9th-12th. Semifinals, 9th place, and 11th place. 9th place to 2nd chance game.

And so on for other groups of 4.

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Americas: 17 teams. qualifying 5, plus 3 2nd chance.

First Round: 2 groups of 6, 1 group of 5 (format accomodates 18). Top 4 in each group advance to 2nd Round, bottom 1-2 to Classification (13-17). Games do not carry forward.

2nd Round: 2 groups of 6 (2 teams from each 1st round group). Top 2, Next 2, and Bottom 2 go to respective classification groups (4 teams each). Classification 13-17, single group of 5 plays round-robin to determine 13th-17th places.

1st-4th. Semifinals, finals, and 3rd place game. All 4 teams qualify to World Cup.

5th-8th. Semifinals, 5th place, and 7th place. 5th qualifies to World Cup, 6th, 7th and 8th to 2nd chance game.

9th-12th. Semifinals, 9th place, and 11th place determine 9th-12th places.

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Asia: 16 teams. qualifying 4, plus 3 2nd chance.

First Round: 2 groups of 8. Top 4 in each group advance to 2nd Round, bottom 4 to Classification (9-16). 3 games carry forward.

2nd Round: 1 group of 8, teams play 4 more games to complete round robin. Top 4 qualify for World Cup and semifinals. Bottom 4 to Classification 5-8. Same format for Classification (9-16).

1st-4th. Semifinals, finals, and 3rd place game. All 4 teams qualify to World Cup.

5th-8th. Semifinals, 5th place, and 7th place. 5th through 7th to 2nd chance game.

9th-12th. Semifinals, 9th place, and 11th place determine 9th-12th places.

13th-16th. Semifinals, 13th place, and 15th place determine 13th-16th places.

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Africa: 6 teams. qualifying 4, plus 3 2nd chance.

First Round: 1 groups of 6, playing double round-robin. Top 2 qualify to championship, next two to 3rd place game, and bottom two to 5th place game.

Championship, best of 3 series. Both teams qualify for World Cup.

3rd place game. Winner qualifies for World Cup, loser to 2nd chance game.

5th place game. Both teams to 2nd chance game.

My proposed format requires 11 games (or 12-13 if a 3-game championship) is used. The format for a 12-team field used this season is 11 games.

If instead of going directly to quarterfinals, my format went to a 3rd round group of 8, followed by semifinals and a final it could be completed in 14 games. This is the same amount of games required by the current format, including repechage, and the format would be identical for that currently used for the final 12, except some of what are now 1st round games would be spread over two rounds.

In fact, a good way to visualize my format is to think of it as incorporating the repechage into the actual finals competition. Instead of 24 teams, split 16 and 8, with the 16 playing 3 games to determine the final field of 8; my format has 24 teams playing 5 games to determine the 12 teams that continue in action.

This first round is superior to the repechage because all teams face intercontinental competition in order to advance to the final 12 teams. While the repechage may have a slightly weaker field, finishing 1st out of 4 teams playing 3 games is more sensitive to unlucky draws or game results than finishing in the top 3 out of 6 playing 5 games. The determination of the final 12 is better, and from there on the two formats are equivalent and could be made identical.

Expanding the field could also make the continental championships more meaningful. In the 3 large continents, the continental semifinals determined which teams qualified for the World Championships. In most cases this meant a CT in semfinal that carried over into the final.

The inclusion of a full set of classification games should not be seen a providing more teams more games at the expense of identifying the best team. They do no such thing.

They do provide more teams more games, true. But they also provide a way to rank teams outside the very top. They should not form the basis for judging my format and could be discarded even though I think they are a good idea.

The case for classification games at the continental level is more compelling, since it provides a simple way to determine and rank an arbitrary number of qualifiers, and 2nd chance teams, and also gives even the smallest countries something more than 5 games and out.

When the current 12-team format was devised, there were 30 countries. There are now 80 with the number expanding. Over half (41/80) are in Europe. With a small finals field, it is harder to come up with fair continental qualification formats since it is harder to adjust the number of berths per continent. A 24 team permits more granular allocation of berths. It is not unreasonable to permit 30% (24 of 80) countries participate in the finals.