Every two years, FIFA considers alternatives to the World Cup

FIFA’s head of international football development Arsene Wenger’s proposal, approved by FA President Gianni Infantino, to hold a World Cup every two years, will not be discussed at the next Congress.

The FIFA people are meeting in Doha on Thursday for a gathering that was supposed to be episodic, but the issue is not on the agenda, implying a… victory of the reactors for the proposal.

“For us, there’s basically no idea, so we don’t need to discuss that. I don’t think I can be any clearer.” said the President of the Union of European Associations and President of Paris, Nasser al-Kalaifi.

UEFA and European clubs have strongly opposed this proposal which, if approved, will be implemented from summer 2026 and will change the entire calendar.

The President of the European Confederation, Alexander Cheferin, had already explained this “Every two years, the World Cup is bad for everyone in football. I’m glad FIFA recognized that. We had some discussions, but for me, the World Cup isn’t planned for every two years. I’m sure we do.” will soon reach an agreement with FIFA.

CONCACAF president and FIFA vice-president Victor Montaliani has suggested that a tournament like the Confederations Cup, which was last held in 2017, could be held in each four-year cycle instead of the additional World Cup. In this case, an expansion to 16 teams was discussed to meet FIFA’s needs.

Another suggestion is a World Nations League, by the standards of the hosts UEFA and CONCACAF, instead of friendlies. The Nations League Final Four, organized by UEFA, left positive impressions and discussions will revolve around a globalized version.