FIFA to discuss 40-team World Cup

Published on: 06 September 2016

The introduction of eight more teams at a World Cup will be discussed at a FIFA meeting in October, led by president Gianni Infantino.

The European Championship was enlarged earlier this summer to incorporate 24 countries instead of just 16, and there have been calls to make a similar change to the format of the world’s biggest football tournament.

According to ANSA, this potential shake-up will be one of the areas to be covered at a FIFA Council meeting on October 13 and 14 in Zurich, which will be led by Infantino.

The 46-year-old has always been in favour of an extension to the current 32-strong World Cup to allow a more diverse range of countries from different parts of the world to compete at a higher level.

It was an integral part of Infantino’s campaign to replace Sepp Blatter as president of FIFA, and it will be implemented first at the 2026 World Cup.

The announcement of the hosts for the 2026 tournament will be announced in 2020, and it is expected that a decision on the number of eligible teams will also be reached at that time.

Source: forzaitalianfootball.com

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