The Differences Between the Rugby World Cup and the FIFA World Cup
Sports betting fans in the UK look forward to a host of different events – with two of the most popular sporting tournaments in the world being the Rugby World Cup and the FIFA World Cup. Both of these events are held every four years – and both happen in different years, which means that there is a great big event to get your teeth into two years out of four.
Despite an obvious difference in viewership numbers, Rugby has an equally passionate betting crowd with an impressive selection of markets, across a bunch of leagues. For the best Rugby odds and in-play markets click here to find the Boylesports rugby betting platform and join in on the fun.
Every four years the FIFA World Cup is played at its host nation, with the last one taking place in Russia in 2018, despite lots of protestations about the suitability of the country. Just as the Rugby World Cup puts some of the best stars in the spotlight on the global stage, so does FIFA’s footballing World Cup. The footballing World Tournament brings together the best footballing stars in the world from the best footballing nations and leagues out there as the different countries battle it out over a whole month for domination and action.
But what is the difference between the two World Cups – apart from the sport? Well, aside from this, several subtle differences reflect the values and traditions of their respective sport.
FIFAs New and Inclusive Qualifying System
One of the best things about the FIFA World Cup is that anyone can qualify – and any nation can fail to qualify. Even the best footballing nations in the world can fail to qualify if they fail to make it through the process. There are no favourites. The only team that does get automatic qualification is the host nation. This means that the highest-ranked nations in the world end up playing the lower-ranked countries, who are usually seen as simply hurdles to get over but can cause an upset or two.
However, this is not the case for the Rugby World Cup, which generally doesn’t give smaller, developing nations the same exposure. The Rugby World Cup has a tiered qualification system that means the highest-ranked teams only fight amongst themselves to qualify and the best of the other nations join them. Sad to say, rugby doesn’t give developing and smaller nations the chance to play the bigger teams, which would be beneficial for them.
FIFA World Cup Has More Teams
The Rugby World Cup tournament is made up of the top 10 rugby nations plus another 10 qualifying nations – so there are just 20 nations taking part. However, in comparison, the FIFA World Cup tournament is made up of 32 entrants – and there has been talk of increasing that number even more in the future. Meanwhile, there are rumours that the Rugby World Cup might even drop its number to 16 – half of the current number in the FIFA World Cup – in order to stay competitive.
Because of the tiered qualification process, there is definitely a big difference between the top rugby nations and the other nations compared to the disparity between the top footballing nations and the rest.
Advertising
This may not be as obvious as the above mentioned points, but there is also a big difference in the way Rugby and Football go about their advertising campaigns, given that the two sports attract very different brands.
The FIFA World Cup appeals to top brands looking to stand out across the entire globe such as Adidas and Nike. In 2018, there was huge hype around one of the largest prize giveaways for football fans, with the £100 Million Challenge open to anyone that could correctly predict the outcome of every single match in the tournament.
However, the whole ethos of the Rugby World Cup and sport is about pulling together. As such, the brands most interested in advertising and sponsoring the Rugby World Cup are usually more inclusive brands such as Land Rover.
Both tournaments have a wide appeal to their own audiences and fans. Although the FIFA World Cup has a wider audience, the Rugby World Cup still attracts huge audiences – and both are worthy of the excitement they attract as the build up begins.
