Italy demands answers after FIFA chief Infantino quips that 228-team World Cup would secure qualification
FIFA president Gianni Infantino's televised joke that Italy would need a 64-team or even 228-team World Cup to qualify has drawn sharp rebukes from Italy's sports minister and football federation, reopening the wound of three consecutive missed tournaments.
The joke that sparked outrage
In an interview with Brazilian broadcaster CazéTV after the 2026 World Cup opening match, FIFA president Gianni Infantino discussed potential further expansion of the tournament. Currently making its debut as a 48-team event held in Mexico, Canada and the United States, the World Cup could grow again. Infantino said the FIFA Council had already discussed a 64-team format but added that the priority was to analyse how the 48-team edition performs. Then, with a grin, he turned to Italy's absence: "Maybe Italy will qualify with 64 teams. Who knows, maybe with 208," or according to other sources, "maybe we should go to 228 teams." The crack, made as Italy endures its third straight World Cup on the sidelines, quickly went viral.
Instant political and institutional backlash
Italy's sports minister Andrea Abodi was among the first to react, telling ANSA that given the distance between Italy and Mexico, a phone call was best. "I am interested in hearing his direct thought," Abodi said. The Five Star Movement deputy Gaetano Amato issued a harsh attack on the FIFA president. Within the Italian Football Federation, the response was equally sharp. FIGC sources told ANSA:
The federation added that football, in victory and defeat, teaches values "starting with respect."It was an unfortunate gaffe, a lapse in style that hurt the feelings of the entire Italian sporting community.
The three missed tournaments
Italy's absence from the 2026 finals follows failures to qualify for the 2018 and 2022 editions. The national side, a four-time world champion, has now been a spectator for three consecutive World Cups while the competition expands from 32 to 48 teams. The FIGC's outgoing president Gabriele Gravina remains in post only for urgent matters, leaving the federation in transition as the tournament unfolds.
- Infantino tells CazéTV that Italy might qualify if the World Cup expands to 64 or 228 teams
- Italian sports minister Abodi says he wants a phone call with Infantino
- FIGC calls Infantino's comment an 'unfortunate gaffe' and a lapse in style
- Infantino posts Instagram photo with Rivera, promising Italy will 'return soon'
Infantino's Instagram olive branch
Hours after the controversy erupted, Infantino posted a photo on Instagram with Italian football legend Gianni Rivera, taken at the Estadio Azteca in Mexico City — the venue of the 1970 "Match of the Century" semi-final between Italy and West Germany.
The 1970 tournament was extraordinary, just as this one in 2026 will be, even without the four-time world champions Italy. But the Azzurri will return soon, and I can't wait to see them again as protagonists in the centenary qualification in 2030.
A divided reaction in Italian media
Italian commentary ranged from indignation to self-deprecation. Il Giornale lambasted Infantino as a "servant of many masters" and said the joke rubbed salt into the wound of a "battered" football nation. Corriere della Sera took a lighter tone, noting the joke resembled the bar-room and social-media humour already circulating among Italians who find themselves "the only ones fasting" during the global football feast. The affair underlines the depth of frustration within Italian football and the precarious relationship between FIFA and one of its historic powerhouses.
