Thursday 31 May 2018

FIFA president Infantino proposes a new mini World Cup called the 'Final 8': Four things to know


There's nothing quite like the World Cup, and waiting four years for the tournament to return can be challenging. But in between, there's plenty of club soccer, qualifying for the World Cup and various regional competitions for countries to complete it.  But we may not have to wait for years for another "World Cup."
Here's what to know about a new potential tournament:

Is it a new cup?
According to Reuters, FIFA president Gianni Infantino is proposing a new mini-World Cup every two years to be called the "Final 8," featuring, you guessed it, eight teams.
It's unclear now how spots would be allocated, but you figure six of the eight spots would be the winners of regional club competitions, the host country and then the reigning World Cup champ, just like the Confederations Cup.

Who would play in it?
It would be a cup comprised of teams succeeding in the global Nations League competition, created by FIFA to lower the amount of meaningless international friendlies and giving the teams something to compete for.

When would it take place?
In a letter obtained by Reuters from Infantino, it would be every October and or November for every odd year starting in 2021.

Any other cups impacted?
It would replace the Confederations Cup, played the year before the World Cup, and this "Final 8" isn't the only cup on Infantino's mind, as he is also proposing a 24-team Club World Cup in 2021. That would be an expansion on the current CWC.
There aren't a whole lot of details on how this would work and it certainly has yet to be adopted, but it's something to keep an eye on as FIFA looks to improve the appeal of the game and create other competitions as they look towards the future.

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