Should the hosts of major tournaments get a free pass to the group stages?

Interesting debate, with Ukraine and Poland hosting as per usual, hosts get a by to the group stages. Do you agree with this?. I'm sure Ukraine and Poland would struggle to qualify for most major tournaments, but are there as a result of them hosting the tournament. Should the host countries get a free pass to the group stages, or be made to qualify for the tournament as every other team is required to do.

No they shouldn't but the money FIFA would lose out on if the hosts didn't qualify would be substantial so it makes sense for FIFA, monetary wise not footballing wise, to give the hosts a free pass.

Of course they should IMO.
If a team isn't playing in a tournament, they're hosting, it's a bit weird. I definitely think footballing wise they should be there.

A host has to be there for me, it enables a country to invest more in a tournament.

It becomes trickier when it's more than one host though - I'd rather only one spot be doled out to a host nation rather than narrow the qualifying berths further.

Qatar will qualify for the 2022 World Cup on the basis that they're hosting it. Do they deserve it? Of course they don't, they'll lose every game.

Duty281 wrote:Qatar will qualify for the 2022 World Cup on the basis that they're hosting it. Do they deserve it? Of course they don't, they'll lose every game.

I remember the Aspire Aacademy (based in Qatar) beat United's 5-0 in the Milk Cup last year. A lot of them are African and were brought to Qatar for training and I think they are now legally Qatari, so a few things like that could happen.

yes they should- but they shouldnt get top seedings..

Yes, of course

mystiroakey wrote:yes they should- but they shouldnt get top seedings..

This.

It warps the group stages leaving groups like Group A and B which are totally unbalanced.

Really, they should probably be.

Netherlands
Russia
Greece
Poland

Germany
Portugal
Czech Republic
Denmark

They're more balanced as groups.