FIFA President, Gianni Infantino, joked about Italy's absence from the 2026 World Cup, suggesting that expanding the teams to 64 could help the team qualify.
Lara Maior
International
Asatur Yesayants / Shutterstock.com
Always see our news on Google
Gianni Infantino, the president of FIFA, made a joke regarding Italy's absence from the 2026 World Cup, mentioning that, by increasing the number of participating teams from 48 to 64, "the Italian team could qualify." His comments, made in an interview for Caze TV, sparked viral reactions in Italy, where fans deemed the joke inappropriate and disrespectful towards a team with such a rich history, like Italy, a four-time world champion. They have missed three consecutive editions of the competition, and supporters are still affected by the elimination from the European playoffs. Infantino added that he could expand the number of teams to 228 to see if Italy would qualify. His comments were interpreted as irony, occurring in the context of discussions about the possible expansion of teams in the World Cup.
Sources
Latest News
22:54
Turkish authorities arrested 162 people in raids against LGBT organizations
22:46
Nicusor Dan attended the Arctic Summit in Rovaniemi and said that Europe’s security is a shared concern
22:40
Boris Johnson and David Petraeus were at the Iagodin railway station during a Russian attack on a Ukrainian train
22:25
The left leads in Sweden, according to exit polls; the right and far right are losing ground
22:13
Donald Tusk warns of a possible intensification of Russia’s operations near Poland> “Russia’s escalation has become a fact”
See more news
NEWS ON THE SAME TOPICS
Personalized news feed, AI-powered search, and notifications in a more interactive experience.
