March 20 – Gianni Infantino has defended the biggest expansion in World Cup history, saying 48 teams in 2026 will not dilute the quality of the tournament.
With 50% more nations included, Infantino hit back at critics who say there will be too much mediocrity, citing traditionally strong countries who were absent from Qatar – widely regarded without them as a high-quality competition.
“Look who didn’t make it with 32 teams: Italy didn’t, Sweden didn’t, Turkey – who always has a good team – didn’t. Look at Chile and Colombia who didn’t make it either. There were top players everywhere in the biggest leagues who didn’t make it,” said Infantino, speaking after the FIFA Congress in Kigali, Rwanda, last week.
The FIFA president took the view that the more, the merrier when it comes to enhancing the competition.
“There are some very good teams all over the world who have the quality to play in a World Cup and to perform very well.”
He cited the examples of Japan beating Germany in Qatar and Morocco reaching the semi-finals, the first African side to do so.
“These days surprise results are not so surprising because the quality of the players is very high. More teams means more celebration as well as more quality.”
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