Doha ready for draw, FIFA halts on biennial World Cup

Lausanne. – It’s already time for Qatar 2022. Tomorrow begins the FIFA Congress that will bring together the 211 member national federations, finalize the organizational details of Friday’s group draw, define the seeded grid, and tackle the project of awarding the world no more than every two years after the 2026 edition. Cup, which will be the first with an expanded format for 48 teams.

So, for now, there is no talk of halving the traditional four years that have passed since 1930, from one World Cup to another. In addition, reform proposals, and therefore the biennial tournament, made by FIFA president Gianni Infantino, were met with strong hostility, especially between football stars and European and South American federations.

Not surprisingly, a “feasibility study” on a World Cup every two years, which Infantino talked about, was quickly opposed. Since then, UEFA has led a “no” front with its South American counterpart (CONMEBOL), then by the World League Forum, which brings together about forty professional leagues and various organizations. Among the criticisms are the effects on the physical and mental health of players, on the economy of national competitions, on clubs forced to freeze national teams.

“For us it is not an idea, so there is no point in discussing it: it does not exist,” said Qatari leader Nasser al-Khalafi, president of the Paris SG and the powerful European Union Club (ECA). The debate went beyond the confines of football, apparently on the contrary, due to a clear stance by the International Olympic Committee (CIO) concerned about seeing the biennial World Cup invade the field of other sports.

“For all the heroes of football, a two-year World Cup is out of the question. I am glad that FIFA has also understood this”, in early March UEFA President Aleksandar Ceferin reassured that the project was now “to be put out”. Last December FIFA presented it for vote at the Doha Congress. There has been no widespread discussion of a revision of the international calendar beyond the 2024 horizon, when FIFA instead wants to introduce the very first Club World Cup. This ‘expanded’, to 24 or 32 teams. .

Meanwhile, while the “Al Rihla” was presented in Qatar, the World Cup ball as well as, as it has been defined, “the fastest ever”, qualified for the final dive last night, 124. Scored a goal in the 5th minute, also Cameroon, who won 2–1 in Algeria, lost 0–1 at home. After 0–1 in favor of the Indomitable Lions in regulation time, the Algerians had equalized in the 119th minute and looked to be. On the other hand, Toko Ekambi’s goal in the fourth minute of extra time caught them for a four.

“We collapsed. We suspended our lives for this match, for our country and our people. The sky has fallen on our heads”, remarks between the tears of Algerian coach Jamel Belmadi. Cristiano Ronaldo of Portugal Inside (“In the fifth World Cup, I want to win it”) and Lewandowski’s Poland, Ibra’s Sweden out, Vidal’s Chile, Zapata’s Colombia; with Lapadula hoping Peru.

There will be three Xs in the draw as the names of the three qualified national teams will be known only in June: they will be between Wales, Scotland or Ukraine, one between Costa Rica, New Zealand and the Solomon Islands, and one between Peru. Australia and United Arab Emirates. And stop at imaginative hypotheses, such as repechage that no one knows very well for whose benefit (Italy’s name has also circulated) and to Iran’s detriment due to the fact that yesterday in Mashhad, Lebanon’s As for the match, it was forbidden entry to the 2,000 women who bought tickets, and this is in contrast to a warning FIFA gave to the Iranian Football Federation in recent months. But as Azmoun and his companions will be in Qatar, the fear of exclusion is unrealistic and the repechage hypothesis conceivable.