Roberto Mancini has a clear opinion on the question. The coach of Italy deplored the new functioning of the Football World Cup from 2026. From the next edition, the number of teams will increase from 32 to 48 teams, adding a considerable number of matches to the players.
Italy coach Roberto Mancini regretted on Monday that the World Cup would be expanded to 48 teams from the next edition, in 2026, believing that it was necessary on the contrary to “reduce the number of matches”. “We are still increasing the number of matches a lot, while I think it should be reduced to give the players the opportunity to breathe a little,” said the Azzurro coach to the Italian press, on the sidelines of the presentation of a new partnership agreement of the Italian Federation.
“Otherwise, we come to a point in the season when they are too tired, you have to give them a breather from time to time,” he added. Under contract until 2026, Roberto Mancini has set himself the goal of bringing Italy back to the World Cup after the Azzurri failed to qualify in the last two editions, in 2018 in Russia and in 2022 in Qatar.
104 games
Fifa announced in March the format of the next World Cup, the first disputed with 48 teams against 32 in Qatar. It has opted for a formula that will increase the number of matches in the flagship football competition, co-organized by the United States, Mexico and Canada, from 64 to 104. The semi-finalists will play a total of eight matches, compared to seven previously.