Former Germany defender and coach Berti Vogts has voiced sharp criticism on the expansion of the World Cup to 48 teams.
"Honestly, such a mammoth tournament does football harm," Vogts told Thursday's Rheinische Post paper.
"It is not good to blow up such a World Cup, not for the tournament, not for the players, not for the quality of the game and in the end not for the clubs as well."
Vogts said that people want to see "the best teams and the best players" at the World Cup and added that "it is only about the money."
The World Cup in the United States, Mexico and Canada starts later Thursday. The number of teams has been increased from 32 to 48 teams and the number of matches from 64 to 104.
Vogts said that the German FA with its president Bernd Neuendorf should take action along with other top nations such as England and France and tell the ruling body FIFA: "It can not go on like this, we are destroying football."
Vogts said he would prefer a return to a 24-team tournament and suggested making qualifying more interesting.
He said teams could qualify via continental championships or the Nations League or "you can also hold pre-tournaments for a World Cup on several continents through which nations can qualify.
"There are many ways if you want to change something," he said.
Former Borussia Mönchengladbach great Vogts won the World Cup as a player in 1974 and coached the team 1990-1998 which included the 1994 and 1998 tournaments.
