The president of FIFA Gianni Infantino has recently talked about the new rules of the World Cup tournament. The Italian has explained about his desire to extend the number of the teams, which are going to take part in the competition.
16 teams will qualify directly for the group stage of the competition, while the other 32 will take part in a play-off match, which will decide who will proceed to the group stage. So, the final number of the teams will still be 32! However, Infantino thinks that these changes will be very helpful for the development of the game.
“The FIFA World Cup is not only a sporting event. It is something unique, something big on a social level! FIFA’s main task is to care about the development of the game. In my opinion, increasing the number of the teams, which will take part in the competition is a big step in that way! Some people said that the quality of football will suffer from this, but do you remember what happened with Italy and England in the last edition of the World Cup? They were eliminated in the group stage, on the account of Costa Rica, which team won the group and eventually reached the quarterfinals,” Gianni Infantino said in his latest press conference.
You all know how sad it is when the team you support is just one step away from qualifying for the World Cup and is eliminated in the very last moment. Increasing the number of the teams, will give these teams the chance to taste from the World Cup’s atmosphere, independently they are eliminated in just one match!
In conclusion, I think the first World Cup with the new rules will be more interesting than ever, because there may be huge sensations in the very beginning of it. We may see the big teams eliminated in the very first match of it!