Gianni Infantino has repeated his election pledge to expand the size of the World Cup
Fifa president Gianni Infantino says Africa will get an additional two World Cup finals places if the tournament expands to 40 teams from 2026.
Infantino repeated his presidential election manifesto pledge to push for the World Cup to expand by eight teams to 40 and wants Africa to get at least two extra slots from 2026.
“I believe for the World Cup 2026 — because the 2018 and 2022 finals are already decided — there should be 40 teams… and out of the eight more there should be at least two slots for African teams,” he told reporters.
“This is what I declared during my campaign and as you know I’m not a dictator but a democratically elected FIFA president, so I have to speak to everyone and listen to everyone as well,” he added in Abuja.
The next two World Cup tournaments will comprise 32 teams with Africa having had five places since the last increase in 1998, except for 2010 when, with the tournament hosted in South Africa, there were six African nations at the finals.
Credit: World Soccer
