WASHINGTON, Dec 4 (Reuters) - FIFA officials on Thursday predicted that the expanded 2026 World Cup would deepen football's global reach on and off the pitch as they looked ahead to a 48-team tournament they say can inspire a new generation of fans and players.
Speaking on the eve of the World Cup draw, FIFA chief football officer Jill Ellis said the tournament's legacy would be measured not just in television audiences but in how many newcomers it pulled into the sport.
"The power of the World Cup is you have the outside world watching but what does it do to the local fan? What does it do to the people who have never seen the game before?" Ellis said.
"The fan base will increase, the attention will increase. You want kids to pick up the ball and go out and be inspired. It draws the attention and creates the next generation. That's the most important thing of the legacy of a World Cup."
QUALITY GAP NARROWING
FIFA's chief of global football development Arsene Wenger backed the move to 48 teams, saying demand to participate was growing and that the quality gap between nations had narrowed.
"The evolution is always more teams want to participate. And now I believe that 48 teams is the right number," he said, noting it still represented less than a quarter of FIFA's 211 member associations.
"I was a bit scared before because maybe the difference between the teams will be too big. In fact, we realized that the difference quality-wise has been reduced."
Wenger said that was due to greater investment in coaching and player development worldwide.
"Education is correlated with success. That's why we see new teams at the World Cup. That's why as well I think it's normal to have 48 teams."
He said every qualifier would have earned their place.
"The teams are not there by coincidence or because they've been invited. It's because they've beaten some teams in their confederations that have quality."
Drawing on lessons from the recent Club World Cup, Wenger said FIFA was "quite confident" about pitch standards and would schedule matches to minimise heat, build in pre-planned hydration breaks and do the maximum to protect the competition and the players given unpredictable weather in some host cities.
ENGLAND AND FRANCE AMONG FAVORITES
Wenger tipped England as one of the favourites to win the tournament, after repeated near misses, while calling his native France "a super favourite".
"It's the country with more world-class strikers compared to any other country in the world," he said.
Ellis chose Spain as her pick. "So much talent. Young, energetic. Love how they play. So maybe they're my super favourite," she said.
Wenger said he hoped the 48‑team format would eventually open the door to a first champion from beyond Europe and South America.
"We want to see an African team. We want to see an Asian team or CONCACAF. It is open to everybody. It's just down to quality," he said.
(Reporting by Kurt Hall in Washington and Rory Carroll in Los Angeles; editing by Clare Fallon)
