Team 33 may have caused Sepp Blatter to have a good old laugh at John Delaney and the FAI but an expanded World Cup could soon be a reality if Gianni Infantino has his way. The UEFA General Secretary, who is best known to fans as the chap who pulls out the balls during the Champions League draws, has designs on Blatter's job and he is now in the running to succeed the outgoing FIFA president.
If that is to happen however, he will require the kind of broad support that Blatter received from some of football's smaller federations. Blatter had his own ways of drawing that support but Infantino appears to have a different plan and it's something that will be of interest to Ireland fans.
Speaking to AP, Infantino believes that the expansion of the European Championships to 24 teams is proof that bigger is better and, as such, similar plans could be drawn up for a bumper World Cup with 2026 in mind as the first 40 team tournament.
I believe in expanding the World Cup based on the experience we had in Europe with the Euros.
If you are serious about developing football it must involve more associations in the best football event in the world: The World Cup.
While 2018 and 2022 would seem too soon to implement such changes, if Infantino gets the votes required to rise to the top job, 2026 could be the first time we see 40 teams compete at a World Cup. It is being suggested that such a change may be done to curry favour from some of the smaller nations outside Europe, so hopes that Ireland could be in for an easier qualifying campaign may be unfounded.
With 13 of the 32 places already going to Europe, it would seem likely that if the competition was to be expanded, the lion's share of the added places would be awarded in an attempt to redress the balance in favour of the emerging football nations outside Europe.
[AP]
