FIFA President Gianni Infantino said that expanding the World Cup further might allow Italy to qualify for the tournament.

The comment highlights the ongoing tension between FIFA's growth strategy and the sporting failures of traditional football powerhouses. Italy's inability to reach recent tournaments has become a point of national frustration, making the president's remark a sensitive subject for Italian sports officials.

Speaking during an interview on the Brazilian channel CazéTV, Infantino said a potential FIFA proposal could increase the number of participating nations [1]. The current format of the tournament involves 48 teams [1]. Infantino said a further expansion to 64 teams would involve more nations globally [1].

During the discussion, Infantino joked, "Se allarghiamo ancora il Mondiale forse l'Italia si qualifica," which translates to: "If we expand the World Cup further, maybe Italy will qualify" [1].

The remark provoked immediate controversy within Italy. Alessandro Abodi, the Italian Minister of Sport, said he was perplexed [2].

FIFA has consistently pushed for a larger tournament footprint to increase revenue and global representation. However, the suggestion that a team as prestigious as Italy would only qualify through a diluted competition format has been viewed by some as a slight to the quality of Italian football [2].

“"If we expand the World Cup further, maybe Italy will qualify"”

This incident underscores the friction between FIFA's commercial objective to expand the World Cup for broader market reach and the competitive integrity of the sport. By suggesting that Italy—a former champion—needs a 64-team field to secure a spot, Infantino inadvertently highlighted the decline of the Italian national team while simultaneously signaling FIFA's willingness to prioritize quantity of participants over strict qualification standards.