HIBAPRESS – Abdelatif El Baz
Italian national team coach Gennaro Gattuso sparked widespread controversy after his statements criticizing the planned increase in African spots in the 2026 World Cup finals, stressing that allocating nine spots for the African continent is a "exaggerated" and unfair decision, as he described it.
Gattuso said in statements that sparked a large reaction across the sports circles: "In 1994, the presence of two teams from Africa in the World Cup was more than enough. Today, the participation of nine African teams is an exaggeration. Allowing this number is unfair, especially since most of them will not leave any real mark on the tournament. FIFA should reconsider and reduce the number of African seats."
The Italian coach's statements came in light of the ongoing debate about the new expansion system adopted by the International Federation of Football (FIFA), which provides for raising the number of participating teams to 48 teams, which resulted in an increase in the number of seats in several continents, including Africa, whose representation increased unprecedentedly.
Gattuso's statements sparked mixed reactions; His critics believe that African football has witnessed remarkable development during the past two decades, and that increasing the number of seats gives the continent's teams a greater opportunity to prove their capabilities in global competitions. In contrast, others support the Italian coach's opinion, considering that expansion may affect the level of competitiveness in the tournament.
These discussions are expected to continue as the date of the 2026 World Cup approaches, which is considered the largest in the history of the competition in terms of the number of participants and the distribution of seats among the continents.
