Current FIFA president Gianni Infantino has proposed the idea of increasing the number of teams participating in the World Cup to 48.
The 46-year-old was elected as the FIFA President for a three-year period in February and one of his initial promises was to expand the World Cup participation to 40 countries, adding eight to the 32 teams which took part in the 2014 World Cup, that saw Joachim Low’s Germany triumph after ousting Argentina in the final.
The former General Secretary of UEFA has now suggested that this could be extended even more, with a preliminary knockout round before the group stages seeing 16 countries get knocked out, and a standard 32 continuing into the group stages.
“These are ideas to find the best solution, we will debate them this month and we will decide everything by 2017,” he was quoted as saying by the BBC.
“It means we continue with a normal World Cup for 32 teams, but 48 teams go to the party. Fifa’s idea is to develop football in the whole world.
“The World Cup is the biggest event there is, it’s more than a competition, it’s a social event.”
