DOHA : FIFA President Gianni Infantino has hailed the group stage of the Qatar World Cup as the "best ever" and said the number of upsets and geographic breadth of the teams progressing indicated that football was becoming ever more global.Former champions Argentina, Spain, Germany and Brazil all suffered shock group-stage losses and Africa, Asia and North America were represented in the last 16 along with traditional powerhouses South America and Europe.Infantino said the matches - "played in beautiful stadiums" - had already attracted a TV audience in excess of two billion viewers. "Fantastic atmosphere, great goals, incredible excitement, surprises, small teams beating big teams," he said in comments released by FIFA on Wednesday. "Well, there are no more small teams and no more big teams.
The level is very, very equal. "For the first time as well, national teams from all continents going to the knock-out phase, for the first time in history.
This shows that football is really becoming truly global."Infantino has pushed through the expansion of the World Cup from 32 teams to 48 for the next edition, which will be held across 16 cities in the United States, Canada and Mexico in 2026.
FIFA was heavily criticised in some quarters for awarding the hosting rights to Qatar because of allegations of corruption and human rights violations.