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Gianni Infantino
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Tom Weller / dpa
After a football World Cup every two years met with a lot of resistance, according to the world association Fifa media, there are apparently now considerations to hold the final round every three years.
This is reported by the English newspapers "Guardian" and "Daily Mail", but they do not name any specific sources.
They refer to alleged talks behind closed doors.
Such a change would confuse the global match calendar and clash with continental championships such as the European Championship or Copa America.
So far, there has been no comment from FIFA.
Fifa, headed by President Gianni Infantino, would continue its course of expansion with a World Cup every three years.
Probably also influenced by the economic success of the World Cup in Qatar.
In the four-year cycle from 2018 to 2022, FIFA earned 7.5 billion US dollars (around 7.3 billion euros) - around one billion more than in the context of the 2018 World Cup in Russia.
The idea of a World Cup every two years had already failed
The 2026 World Cup in North America will already be held with 48 instead of 32 national teams.
It is still unclear whether the game will be played in groups of three or four.
The latter variant would lead to significantly more World Cup games.
In addition, Infantino has announced an extended Club World Cup with 32 teams for 2025.
It is unclear how the European Football Union would react to plans for a World Cup every three years.
Together with the South American association Conmebol, Uefa had already rebelled against the World Cup every two years.
There could be support for new ideas from Africa and Asia.
The earliest start of the planned change of frequency should be 2030, by then the general schedule has already been fixed.
If Uefa stayed with its four-year rhythm at the European Championships (EM 2024, 2028, 2032, etc.), 2036 would be the first year in which the major events would collide.
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