Although i was absent with regard to the world cup...
Well, I would like to ask a question, what is your opinion regarding the increase in teams during the world cup? 32 to 48 participating teams is a massive increase in my opinion.
It is a massive increase, absolutely. That's 50% more teams playing than in Qatar.
I really don't know why there's such a huge increase in the number of teams, the world cup is supposed to be a difficult thing to qualify.
For example, in South America(conmebol) out of 10 teams, there are currently 4 direct slots and the 5th has to play against an Asian team.
In the future there will be 6 direct slots, and the 7th has to play with another team from another federation.
Having up to 70% of the teams qualifying into the world cup is a bit too much in my opinion. Only 3 teams will be out.
A decrease in the competitiveness of the qualifying matches may result from more teams competing straight from various confederations. As you indicated, the race for the seventh berth won't be as tough as it once was with 6 teams qualifying straight from CONMEBOL. This might result in fewer interesting and significant matches during the qualification round.
I am aware that FIFA wants to increase the number of countries that may compete in the World Cup. However, there should be a balance between the number of teams competing and the quality of competition in order to preserve the tournament's status and interest.