Run Up the Score World Cup

I used to think that it is only fun to watch teams that are even (well... actually, I still think that). However, it is so often that a result seems incorrect. A team is like 5% better than the opponent and the weaker team wins. Well, that is a fine result.

However, in the current world cup (2026 for those who read this in the future), bad penalties have made some outcomes questionable. Not to say that Senegal would have beaten Belgium, but they'd have had a decent chance had there not been a bad referee call giving Belgium a late match penalty to decide the game 3-2 in Belgium's favor. Senegal and Belgium were essentially even to that point. Yet a winner must be decided.

In this suggestion, i propose that teams are grouped by strength and only play teams that are much weaker or stronger than themselves. E.g., Both Beligium and Senegal play Tunisia. Whichever team does better advances to the next round. E.g., If Belgium beat Tunisia 7-1 and Senegal beat Tunisia 5-2, Belgium advances. There Belgium might meet USA (which is what actually is going to happen), but rather than playing each other, they both get to crush Sweden and whoever crushes Sweden worse, advances to the next round. And so on.

Variant: If the weaker team that is supposed to be destroyed actually wins or draws the match, they automatically take the places of the stronger team.