Gianni Infantino: World Cup is now truly global

Fifa president Gianni Infantino is aiming to make football a truly global sport after he saw his preferred World Cup revamp unanimously signed off yesterday.

From 2026, the World Cup will feature 48 teams as opposed to the 32-nation model which has been in place and untouched since France 1998. The Fifa Council in Zurich was asked to vote on four proposals to change the existing format or stick with the current format.

It was agreed across the board to accept Infantino’s selected model, which is set to feature 16 groups of three nations with the top two sides advancing into a 32-team knockout, increasing the number of games from 64 to 80 but remaining inside a 32-day schedule.