‘Italy might qualify,’ FIFA president quips on 64-team World Cup in 2030

FIFA president Gianni Infantino joked that struggling Italy might manage to qualify for the World Cup if the competition was expanded from 48 to 64 teams in 2030.
Four-time world champions Italy failed to qualify for Russia 2018, Qatar 2022 and now North America 2026, the first edition to feature 48 teams.
“We have had discussions about expanding to 64 teams … the matter was presented to the FIFA council,” Infantino told Brazilian digital broadcaster CazeTV on Thursday before the World Cup opener, which Mexico won 2-0 against South Africa.
“Maybe Italy qualify with 64 teams, or we could even go up to 208 teams,” he added with a laugh in a brief interview as he entered Mexico City’s ...