'Stop living in the last century', Gianni Infantino tells critics of his 48-team World Cup and takes swipe at Germany

Fifa president Gianni Infantino hit back on Tuesday at European nations who are resistant to the new expanded 48-team World Cup, telling the implacably opposed Germans that they always qualify and must wake up to the reality of this century, rather than live in the last one.

Fifa unanimously agreed that the tournament will now begin with 16 groups of three teams, in which the top two advancing into a 32-team knock-out stage and with the Scottish and Northern Irish FA already coming out in support, Infantino insisted that the countries which perennially qualify must be more broader-minded.

“Even if you organise a World Cup with two teams, one of the two teams would be Germany,” said Infantino, who joked that 48 teams would help “get England” to the 2026 finals. “[Germany] are the world champions, a top team, which qualifies regularly, who win regularly. It’s obvious that whatever format you have, Germany will be there.

“But for many other countries, it’s a chance to qualify. It is a chance to participate in a big event. It’s not the 20th century any more. It’s the 21st century. Football is more than Europe and South America. Football is global. The football fever you have in a country that qualifies for the World Cup is the most powerful tool you can have, in those nine months before qualifying and the finals.”

Though the English FA have been resigned to the vote and not argued publicly against, Germany has stated that the kudos of a place at the event will become diminished. The vote for the expanded tournament also drew a barbed response from the European Club Association (ECA) which effectively accused Infantino of currying support among smaller nations to assist his own re-election as president in 2019.

The ECA, which as a body representing the interests of big clubs such as Manchester United, Chelsea, Bayern Munich, Barcelona and Real Madrid has done much to maintain their dominance at the expense of smaller clubs said: “We understand that this decision has been taken based on political reasons rather than sporting ones and under considerable political pressure, something ECA believes is regrettable.”

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Infantino flatly dismissed that, citing German Ottmar Hitzfeld as a supporter of his plan and pointing out that he had not added any additional days or stadia to the tournament and that the winning side in 2026 would play no more than seven matches – as the champions do under the current system.

In the new format, there will be a total of 80 games – 6 more than the current 32-team schedules. There were also options for the 37-member Fifa Council to vote for a 40-team tournament, with 10 groups of four or eight groups of five, or another 48-team proposal with a 32-team one-game knockout round with the winners joining 16 already-qualified teams.

European places at the competition will likely rise from 13 to 16. Africa and Asia could have as many as nine teams each. At the 2014 World Cup in Brazil they had five and four teams respectively. Fifa could decide by May how many entries each continent has.

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The other major decision regarding 2026 – who will host the event – is not scheduled for consideration until 2020 with a bid featuring the United States, either on its own or in conjunction with one or both of Canada and Mexico, an early favourite. Increased revenues for Fifa are also expected. Their research suggests that an expanded tournament would rake in an additional £521million profit on the current format.

Scottish FA chief executive Stewart Regan has backed the expansion – stating it is “a positive thing for the smaller nations” and citing the performances of Wales, Iceland and Northern Ireland in the expanded 24-team Euro 2016 tournament.

The Welsh have not responded to the development, but the Irish are delighted. “I'm in favour of any decision that gives Northern Ireland a better chance of qualifying for a World Cup," said the Irish FA president David Martin.

"If the new format of the tournament gives us a greater opportunity to make the finals then it has my support. What it would do is give more countries hope and raise expectation levels.”