FIFA president Gianni Infantino praised the impact of expanded tournaments in the development of soccer around the world in a video message to the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Congress on Saturday.
Speaking from the United States, host of this year's Club World Cup which will feature 32 teams in June and July instead of the previous seven, Infantino addressed the 46 member associations gathered in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
“Opportunities to face opponents from different continents don’t come along too often and that is something that we have been trying to change at FIFA,” said Infantino, who has pushed for bigger and new tournaments since taking his position in 2016 in a bid to generate more revenue for the organization’s 211 member associations.
Asia will have four representatives at the Club World Cup: Al-Ain of the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia’s Al-Hilal, Ulsan HD of South Korea and Japan’s Urawa Reds.
“In total, players from more nations will represent their respective countries at this tournament than at all of the FIFA World Cups combined since 1930,” added Infantino. “It is further proof in our desire to make football truly global.”
While there has been some criticism of expanded tournaments in Europe because of the increased demands placed on players, AFC president Sheikh Salman bin Ibrahim Al Khalifa said Infantino had Asia’s support.
“This is a competition that we have supported as a confederation and a competitive opportunity which our members, and their clubs, have wanted,” the AFC president said.
The United States will also co-host the 2026 World Cup along with Mexico and Canada in the first tournament to feature 48 national teams, an increase from 32 in 2022.
“Some teams will break new ground in reaching that competition as a result, not only of the move to 48 teams with eight or even nine Asian teams now being able to qualify, but also a product of the tireless work being done by you all,” added Infantino.
Infantino did not mention Thursday’s proposal by Alejandro Dominguez, the president of South American soccer’s ruling body CONMEBOL, that the 2030 World Cup, which will be hosted by six nations, feature 64 teams in order to mark the centennial celebration of the tournament.
In March, FIFA said it would look into the South American proposal when it was first broached by a Uruguayan official. Uruguay hosted the first World Cup in 1930.
The 1930 World Cup, won by the host Uruguay side, featured 13 teams which did not have to pre-qualify — seven from South America, four from Europe and two from North America. Many European teams did not participate because of the difficulty of traveling to South America during the Great Depression.
