John Delaney in favour of plan to expand World Cup to 48 teams

FAI chief executive John Delaney has given his backing to Fifa’s controversial expansion of the World Cup finals from 32 to 48 teams in 2026.

“In theory, I and the FAI would be supportive of increasing the number of teams to 48 but we have meetings in Uefa next Monday and Tuesday to find out how that affects Uefa,” he said yesterday.

“At the moment, 13 countries from Europe get to the World Cup of 24 so how many extra slots would that mean for Uefa? If I was really being frank with you, any opportunity that gives Ireland a greater opportunity to get to a World Cup in theory or in principle I would support.”