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.

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.