Gianni Infantino: Opponents to biennial World Cup ‘afraid of change’

Infantino, who was present in the Egyptian capital, believes more frequent World Cups will boost participation – with improved chances of qualification.

Africa will only have five representatives at the men’s 2022 World Cup, with Uefa providing 13 of the 32 participants and South America at least four.

Ivory Coast coach Patrice Beaumelle accused Fifa of “killing African football” with the allocation for Qatar, but the tournament is being expanded to 48 teams in 2026, when the tournament will be held in Canada, Mexico and the USA.

Africa is expected to have nine guaranteed spots in 2026 and it could gain an extra place via an inter-continental play-off tournament which will decide the final two qualifiers.

Fifa’s head of global development Arsene Wenger has been promoting a biennial World Cup, which Infantino insisted would offer more opportunities to countries outside the top tier of the world game.

“We need to offer more chances for world football, for African football to shine at the world stage,” the Swiss added.

It is still unclear how Caf – whose flagship Africa Cup of Nations is also played every two years – would be able to stage qualifiers for both biennial World Cup and Nations Cup tournaments into its schedule.

“Afcon will definitely continue,” Caf president Patrice Motsepe said.

“Part of the process is to ensure players do not play more games than they did historically. There will be a fundamental review of the competitions, as well as of the structure that has existed over many years.”