No surprise: Canada favours expanded World Cup, but wants it done right

TORONTO — No surprise, Canada is in favour of an expanded World Cup. But Canadian soccer boss Victor Montagliani says it has to be done right.

The world governing body of soccer will reportedly review five options to revamp the current 32-nation format when the FIFA Council meets Jan. 10 in Zurich. According to the Associated Press, FIFA’s analysis suggests the preferred option is a 48-team tournament consisting of 16 three-team groups.

“We support (an expanded World Cup format) wholeheartedly, both as CONCACAF and Canadian soccer,” said Montagliani, president of both the Canadian Soccer Association and CONCACAF, which covers North and Central America and the Caribbean.

Montagliani, who is also a FIFA vice-president and FIFA Council member, says balance is needed in any change.

“I think it’s important to increase it (in size) because the World Cup is such a unique asset in the world which a lot of counties aspire to. It means a lot to everybody,” he told the Canadian Press in a recent interview.

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Increasing the tournament size serves as a carrot, he said. “But also I think we have to balance with quality because it is the World Cup. You want to make sure you’re balancing quantity and quality.”

Canada currently ranks 117th in the world — and 13th in CONCACAF, which will send three or possibly four teams to the 2018 World Cup in Russia. The Canadian men, who failed to reach the final round of qualifying in the region this time around, have only qualified for the World Cup finals once — in 1986 in Mexico.

The first World Cup that could feature an expanded field is 2026, a tournament that Canada has expressed interest in hosting. So have the United States and Mexico, leading to speculation of a joint bid.

All three countries are currently awaiting the results of the January FIFA meeting, said Montagliani. That should shed light on the tournament format and number of games.

“The other thing is what are the rules and regulations around that. So everybody’s holding course until the terms of reference are crystallized and finalized. And then after that, I think CONCACAF and specifically the three countries can sit down and say ‘OK, what’s the best way to approach it?’

“Knowing full well that any of the three counties can host it on their own. But having said that — there seems to be appetite in the public which is refreshing, but is there appetite to do some kind of a joint bid as well? Those are things that I think probably in the first half of next year will be finalized.”

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Neil Davidson, The Canadian Press