Speaking Friday at his only formal World Cup news conference, Infantino made it clear as he has previously that he would like to see the World Cup field expand to 48 teams when the tournament resumes in Qatar in 2022. That would be problematic for the tiny kingdom, so Infantino is pitching a plan that would have Qatar share the World Cup with some of its Middle East neighbors.
Here’s the rub: Several of those countries — including Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Egypt and the United Arab Emirates — abruptly cut off diplomatic relations with Qatar 13 months ago and imposed a blockade on the country.