President of FIFA, Gianni Infantino, was baffeled when his idea was turned down. (Image via: The National)

Qatar World Cup 2022, Usual Setting to Be Used, FIFA Says

The World Cup is just getting bigger, but is it better? FIFA put an end to that speculation. There was a plan to make World Cup – the event that soccer mania waits for once in 4 years – even bigger by putting additional 48 teams into the World Cup. This was an idea which came from the president itself, Gianni Infantino.

Infantino stated last year that he desired to make the World Cup even bigger by widening the spaces alloted for countries from 32 to 48. While this sounds impossible, this could be a good news for some national teams that has not tasted the grand global competition just yet.

However, the idea was slammed by soccer governing body. The body said that it could not be applied now. UEFA president, Alexander Ceferin, said the unquestionable reason of why it is impossible. He stated that adding 16 more teams into the slots would only cause in “more problems”. In addition, it is “unrealistic”.

Alan Green, football commentator, despised the idea so bad he started comparing Infantino to his corrupted predecessor, Joseph "Sepp" Blatter. While FIFA itself warned Infantino about the possibility of human rights abuse, burdening migrant workers with heavier load.
Qatar, the host country for 2022 World Cup, seemed to be all okay about the idea. In fact, they were interested by the idea. However, they stick to the 32-teams format still for the best interest of Qatar and soccer.

Meanwhile, for 2026 World Cup, joint bids from USA, Mexico and Canada won them the rights to be the hosts for the upcoming World Cup, beating Morocco. Now, the 48-teams format will be tested there. With 80 matches over 34 days, 48 countries will compete for 32 seats, starting with initial 16 matches.