Asia gains in World Cup rework

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four of UEFA’s quota qualifying berths.

FIFA hopes to generate extra buzz among fans in the 2026 host country, or countries, by bringing in six teams to play four matches over several days that will decide the final two of 48 slots.

The suggested format would see the four lowerranked teams paired for single knockout matches. The winner would advance in the bracket to face the two higherranked teams.

Using the current FIFA rankings,atheoreticalplayofflineup inNovember2025intheUnited States would be: China, Curacao, Ecuador, Morocco, Saint Kitts and Nevis, and Tahiti.

The Confederations Cup already faced an uncertain future after this year’s edition in Russia.

With the 2022 World Cup in Qatar being played in November and December, a Club World Cup in November 2021 has become the preferred testevent option. of 13

Michel Platini laid bare his anger at his spectacular downfall on Thursday, breaking his silence to accuse FIFA bosses of wanting to destroy him and claiming Sepp Blatter “always said I’d be his last scalp”.

Former UEFA boss Platini and erstwhile ally Blatter — once the most powerful man in soccer as FIFA president — were both banned from soccer in December 2015 over a payment of around $2 million authorized by Blatter to his one-time heir apparent.

Platini’s original suspension was cut from eight years to six and then to four by the Court of Arbitration for Sport.

Speaking publicly for the first time since he vowed in May 2016 to clear his name after the CAS ruling, the former France and Juventus star gave senior FIFA officials and Blatter both barrels.

“They were looking for something to destroy me with,” Platini, 61, told French newspaper

Michel Platini Le Monde, when asked if he felt that FIFA had trained its sights on him. “Various in-house affairs at FIFA were exploited by the people who pulled the strings. “I lived in the hope that they would tell the truth, but it never...