FiFA President, Gianni Infantino has hailed the group games of the Qatar World Cup as the best ever.
He stated that the number of upsets and geographic breadth of the teams indicated that football was becoming ever more global.
Former champions Argentina, Spain, Germany, and Brazil all suffered shock group-stage losses, and Africa, Asia, and North America were represented in the last 16 along with traditional powerhouses South America and Europe.
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Infantino said the matches — “played in beautiful stadiums” — had already attracted a TV audience in excess of two billion viewers
“Fantastic atmosphere, great goals, incredible excitement, surprises, small teams beating big teams,” he said.
“Well, there are no more small teams and no more big teams. The level is very, very equal”
“For the first time as well, national teams from all continents going to the knock-out phase, for the first time in history. This shows that football is really becoming truly global”
Infantino has pushed through the expansion of the World Cup from 32 teams to 48 for the next edition, which will be held across 16 cities in the United States, Canada, and Mexico in 2026.
