Former Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger He shared his opinion on expanding the roster of World Cup participants to 48 national teams.

“Playing for the national team is an extraordinary experience. While a football player defends the honor of his country, he also faces great pressure: the fear of failure, the risk of disappointing the fans and not living up to expectations.

It takes tremendous mental toughness to be responsible to an entire nation. The best teams need athletes who can cope with this pressure and represent the interests of the new generations.

For a long time, the world championship was a tournament in which representatives primarily from Europe and South America participated. It needed to be offered to more countries, especially Asia and Africa. Football has taken on a global dimension: people all over the world are discussing this game.

Looking to the future, we must ensure that within a century everyone has at least the chance to dream of victory in the World Cup. Increasing the number of participants from 32 to 48 was an important step on this path.

The first fourteen days of the tournament are the most inspiring time: The whole world comes together, each athlete is proud to represent their country, and a sense of community emerges. This is a large-scale collective celebration.

With 104 matches and longer distances, the World Championship will be a serious mental test. Winning will require a lot of mental preparation: the coaching staff and staff will need to maintain unity and motivation within the team for weeks.

Penalty shoot-outs will become almost inevitable in the knockout matches and the mental factor will also come to the fore here,” Wenger said in his speech at the World Economic Forum in Davos.

Brazilian Football Confederation and national team coach Carlo Ancelotti According to Globo, a verbal agreement was reached to extend the cooperation until the end of the 2030 World Cup.

The Italian expert returns to Rio de Janeiro on Friday, January 22, after completing his holiday. It is anticipated that the official signing of the documents will take place in the first half of February. Dialogue on the extension of powers began in October and continued until the end of the year, with Ancelotti accepting the terms proposed by the federation.

Currently, the Italian is the highest-paid national team coach in the world, with a salary of approximately 10 million euros. The new contract provides for the maintenance of the current salary level but includes an updated bonus system for achieving certain sports goals.

English Tottenham midfielder Lukas Bergvall He was injured in the seventh round of the Champions League in the match against German Borussia Dortmund on January 20 (2-0).

The 19-year-old player was sent off in the 62nd minute and will be out of action for 2-3 months. Lucas will not be able to play in the World Cup play-off semi-final against Ukraine, which will be played in Spain on March 26.

Tottenham head coach Thomas Frank confirmed the injury to his key midfielder:

“Unfortunately, Lucas suffered an ankle injury. He is still having bad luck with this type of damage. The injury appears to be serious. He will be examined in the coming days, so we will know more about his recovery timeline.”

Bergwall played 26 matches at club level this season, scoring one goal and providing four assists in these matches.

The situation with injuries to key players continues to deteriorate for Sweden head coach Graham Potter – Stoke City goalkeeper Viktor Johansson, Tottenham midfielder Dejan Kulusevski and Liverpool forward Alexander Isak are also currently in hospital.