Inside Track: There’ll be 48 countries at next year’s World Cup – in 1950 there were just 13

An increased number of 48 teams – up from 32 – will compete at next year’s World Cup finals in America and surrounding countries, with the final scheduled for New York.

(There are those who will argue the higher number is not all about money. Wrong. The more teams, the more travellers and the greater demand for tickets. Forget about the competition’s dilution.)

Compare this with 75 years ago. The 1950 finals were held in Brazil and only 13 went to post. That was after 29 had competed in the preliminaries. Now there are quadruple that number.

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This was the first tournament in 12 years, World War 2 having caused the cancellation of the 1942 and ’46 versions. Sixteen teams had qualified, but there were withdrawals across the board.

Argentina pulled out, having had problems with the host country in matches played between the pair in the 1940s. Seemingly, clashes with these neighbours had been, well, clashes, real rough houses.

Czechoslovakia also pulled out – for a reason known only to themselves; but because their matches would be over 2,000 miles apart, France said they wouldn’t be travelling. Germany were banned.

India had qualified, but were told not to come. Why? Because they wanted to play in their bare feet. That’s how they had won their way through the qualifiers, but FIFA were having none of it.

Don’t come if you haven’t got football boots with you, the Indians were told. So they didn’t. And why should they have?

In a pre-World Cup tour, India had played a number of matches and didn’t make as much as one stud-mark on the field. They may, however, have quicked a few toes, or had them stood upon.

After deciding to invest in a number of Size 9s, India were good enough to win the 1951 Asian Games, and do well at Ronnie Delany’s 1956 Olympic Games, finishing fourth.

With so many defections, the governing body found themselves struggling to find replacements. They looked towards the UK, offering the winners and runners-up in the Home Championship a place.

England, who hadn’t competed in any of the previous World Cups – the first of which was played in 1930, and was won by Uruguay – said yes, but Scotland weren’t interested.

‘We didn’t even win the Home Championship, so how could we be expected to compete in the World Cup,’ they might have said.

As events unfolded, England were probably sorry they ever agreed to get on the plane. They had some of the best in the game at the time in their side, the likes of Billy Wright, Stanley Matthews and Stan Morteson.

But in one of the greatest shocks the competition has ever seen, the Three Lions, having struggled to get past Chile first time out, had their roar silenced by USA, not exactly one of the game’s world powers with just one full-time professional included.

A defeat by Spain followed, and Wright and his team were on the way home, accompanied by officials, and – probably cursing their editors for not letting them stay – the Press corps.

The final was between Brazil and Uruguay, and with the vast majority of the near-200,000 record crowd at the Maracana Stadium behind them, the host country were unbackable.

The bookies who facilitated those who ignored the dictum, ‘odds-on, look on’ were rewarded. Brazil scored first, but Uruguay scored more. It ended 2-1 for the visitors.

There’ll be a full 48-team complement on the other side of the Atlantic next year, unless the uncertain world we now live in gives reason to have some of the qualified being told to stay at home, or not travelling. All players are certain to be wearing boots, and England will again be among the favourites.