FIFA president Gianni Infantino on Tuesday said he is not yet certain that the 2026 World Cup finals would feature 40 teams, although he personally favours an expanded tournament.
Infantino also said he would be happy for several countries to share the hosting of the World Cup, describing it as much a “social event for the whole world” as a global sporting competition.
The FIFA supremo made a 40-team World Cup a key part of his campaign before his election in February, but admitted that it was not entirely up to him to decide whether the 2026 finals should be increased from the tournament’s current 32-team format.
“My opinion has not changed on the 40 teams. But that’s my opinion. We will have to discuss it and see what’s the best for football,” supersport.com quoted Infantino as saying to reporters on Tuesday.
FIFA expects to make decisions by October on the number of teams, the format for the tournament and the continents that will be eligible to stage the tournament.
The latter would be a key decision as it would determine whether countries from Asia, where Qatar is staging the 2022 World Cup, can bid to host the tournament.
The final decision on the host nation will be made in May 2020.