FIFA president wants 48-team World Cup in 16 pools of three

FIFA President Gianni Infantino leaves the stage during the draw for the soccer Confederations Cup 2017. Photo / AP

Gianni Infantino wants to increase the number of teams competing at World Cup finals to 48.

The FIFA president, who succeeded Sepp Blatter earlier this year, is keen to introduce space for 16 more teams into the quadrennial showpiece tournament.

Infantino has suggested that the format of the competition could change from eight groups of four teams to 16 groups of three. That would mean some nations being drawn into Group P during the first round.

A report from news agency AFP on Wednesday claimed Infantino would be looking at introducing a larger edition of the competition from 2026.

Infantino will submit his latest proposal at a FIFA Council meeting in Zurich on January 9-10.

Within the proposals, the top two teams from each group would qualify for a knockout round featuring 32 nations.

The Italian brought up the notion of expanding the event in October, stating that the quality of teams across the country means a larger tournament does not necessarily mean a weaker one.

"Whether it will be 40 or 48, it was a positive discussion. I don't agree it will dilute the quality," Infantino said at the time.

"I would like to remind you that in the last World Cup, England and Italy were eliminated by Costa Rica. The level of football is increasing all over the world.

"In a 48-team format, the quality would be higher because the 32 teams would have a play off. The quality would improve and not decrease in any way."

The World Cup began life in Uruguay in 1930 with 13 competing nations. That increased to 16 in 1934 and remained that way for 48 years.

In 1982, a further eight countries were added to the finals, taking the overall number to 24. That increased by a third, to 32 teams, at the 1998 tournament in France.

The World Cup in Spain in 1982 featured such a situation - dubbed the 'Disgrace of Gijon', when Austria and West Germany knew a one or two-goal West German win would secure qualification for the knockout rounds.

Subsequently, after Horst Hrusbech gave the West Germans an early lead, the teams played out a dire 80 minutes in which neither side showed ambition to score.

As a result of that incident, FIFA changed the tournament's structure to ensure every group's final round of matches was played concurrently.

However, with three-team groups, it would become impossible for that scheduling to be maintained.