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However, he suggested that 16 of those teams would go home
after just one knockout match, and the remainder of the
tournament would be played, as now, with a 32-team group stage,
followed by a knockout phase.
Infantino, speaking during an event at Bogota's Sergio Arboleda
university, said a final decision would be taken by the FIFA
Council in January, Colombian media reported. A FIFA
spokesperson confirmed that the reports were accurate.
"These are ideas to find the best solution, we will debate them
this month and we will decide everything by 2017," Infantino was
quoted as saying. "They are ideas which we put forward to see
which one is the best."
Infantino said his suggestion was to have a preliminary knockout
round involving 32 teams played in the host country, with the 16
winners reaching the group stage. A further 16 seeded teams
would get a bye into the group stage, he said.
"The idea is that 16 teams would qualify directly to the group
stage and the other 32 would play in a preliminary phase, in the
country where the World Cup is being played - they would play
for the remaining 16 places," he said.
"It means we continue with a normal World Cup for 32 teams, but
48 teams go to the party.
"FIFA's idea is to develop football in the whole world, and the
World Cup is the biggest event there is," he added. "It's more
than a competition, it's a social event."
Infantino was elected FIFA chief on Feb. 26 to replace Sepp
Blatter, who received a six-year ban for ethics violations.
A key point of Infantino's election platform was to increase the
tournament to 40 teams, although critics say this number creates
difficulties in finding a suitable and simple format.
Germany coach Joachim Loew said on Sunday that a larger
tournament would "dilute" its sporting value, while European
clubs have strongly opposed an increase in the number of teams.
(Writing by Brian Homewood in Berne; Editing by Ken Ferris)
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