Aren't the World Cup qualifiers also part of the World Cup, and almost all countries precipitate in it? And representation shouldn't matter imo. You qualify if you win, don't if you lose. I'm not sure how the new slots will be divided, but of the top 50 countries that didn't qualify, most of them are European (Italy, Sweden, Austria, Hungary, Ukraine, etc).

48 countries just seem to to a bit too much, considering that there's only like 50~60 countries with a semi-decent football team and culture. Qatar, which is around 50th in the world ranking, is struggling in the current World Cup. Imagine similar ranking countries participating without the host nation advantage - it's going to be boring AF.