AIBU to wonder why the UK gets 4 teams in the World Cup, whereas France only gets one.

[TheKittenswithMittens]

Why don't we play as UK in the World Cup? Why do we get 4 teams when everyone else gets just the one? It would bring an end to anyone but England sentiment.

Scotland has many more unique and distinct institutions beyond its judicial system.

Indeed she said that at about 22.10.

We play as Team GB in the olympics.

Which country did you compete for in the Commonwealth Games?

Also, I'd still like your thoughts on Curacao competing in the World Cup.

Because we invented the game, codified the rules, set up everything and sat on every committee in FIFA for the important bits...hence why the rest of the world hate us. But it's our ball and we'll take it home with us. It's now worse that the top English league is by far the best in the world...they hate that even more

Oi, don't knock the Rock, I was reeling at the weekend to see they had won a football international!!

I don't believe the level of insults. I am expressing a view the UK should not get 4 football teams in the World Cup. Why all the insults?

Most other athletic competitions as well, except for the Commonwealth Games.

You don’t though. Because according to you England isn’t a proper country so you can’t have represented a country that doesn’t exist.

Well this thread is keeping me going whilst waiting for the washing to finish 😂

There's only one person telling people to fuck off, OP...

How exciting!

Now you need to pay the medal tax.

It’s the same for people posting about their cat, they have to pay the cat tax by posting a photo.

We did not colonise Scotland 🙄 Scotland however did a great job of colonising other places.

As well as that, Scotland hosted the world's first international fixture in 1872.

Probably because you have offended a lot of people by saying Scotland and Wales are not proper countries. How did you think this was going to go?

@TheKittenswithMittens This! There are huge tensions involved with the fact that each constituent country of the UK has its own FA, not to mention how much it winds FIFA up that the English FA refers to itself as just The FA (a simple reality of it being the very first established Football Association in the world, but a choice viewed as superior, egotistical and pompous by FIFA and many of the other FAs worldwide). A major reason why it’s highly unlikely we’ll ever be chosen to host a World Cup tournament in my lifetime.

We have entered a Team GB squad a few times in the Olympics (most recently in 2012 mainly due to London being the host City) but each of the FAs involved are generally reluctant in case it’s viewed as setting a precedent. From the perspective of the Scottish, Welsh and Northern Irish FAs, I believe the worry is that selections for a GB squad would mostly be dominated by English players and that, over time, if that dominance continued, an argument could be made that separate FAs are redundant and all could be amalgamated into the one to make a GB FA - most likely under the primary control of the English FA.

For the 2012 Olympic Games, the FA (English FA) had to give special permission and only agree with the stipulation that none of the players from the EURO 2012 squad were included on the GB team.

Op said it about England too.

The correct position is: the World Cup is run by fifa. They recognise the Football Associations of the 3 UK and NI countries. We therefore stay separate and that’s what each FA in each country wants. The Olympics - GB is the recognised competing country and we’ve struggled to get the 4 FAs to agree on it being Team GB for football as none want to lose independence. So that’s why it’s different. It’s FIFA and the Olympics - they are separate and different.

My Commonwealth Games competitors medal

I don't know why you're getting all the insults. I think it's a reasonable question, given the discrepancies.

And what is "a country"? is a reasonable question too. For N. Ireland and Scotland and the Channel islands it's geography and legal systems. But for Wales it's only geography.

I wonder if they wear a helmet. Not entirely sure if going without would perhaps help in the event of a knock to the head here...

To be fair a unified team might get a better class of fan. The Tartan Morris Men.

As an afterthought.

We have enough decent footballers to put out four?

I like it. I get to back four teams instead of one! I mean yeah I prioritise but I'm always any uk team over anywhere else!

Brava!