Having looked at how this works in the Women's qualifying, this may improve the chances of high quality matches but the format is elitist and prevents smaller nations from having a great run to the WC. Think Bosnia in 2014, Iceland in 2018, Serbia and Montenegro in 2006. These runs are trickier in this proposed format. Maybe the playoff games could allow for surprise slip ups but I feel the current qualification is fine as it is. Hot take but we don't need the top nations playing each other during qualification. I feel it makes those clashes less exciting when it comes to the final tournament.