Tag: FIFA World Cup

Leonardo Bonucci has sent a warning to former teammate Cristiano Ronaldo ahead of Italy and Portugal facing off in the European World Cup qualifying playoffs.

Cristiano Ronaldo and his Portugal team could face Leonardo Bonucci and his Euro 2020 title winning Italy for a spot at the December 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar.

This development comes as a result of both nations finishing in second place in their respective qualifying groups, with Portugal just missing out on direct qualifications on the last day of the qualifying rounds.

Bonucci has told Ronaldo he will “suffer some blows” if the two meet on the international stage.

Italy and Portugal were drawn in the same bracket as Turkey and North Macedonia. Italy will face North Macedonia while Portugal will take on Turkey. The winners of both games will go on to face each other for the only qualifying spot in their bracket.

Both nations are favourites to make it out of the bracket and Bonucci has sent a message to his former teammate to not expect a walk in the park if both nations have to battle it out for the qualifying spot.

Bonucci told Italian outlet Rai Sport: “I heard Cristiano Ronaldo and we joked about the possible Portugal vs Italy match, we’ll see what happens on the pitch, Cristiano knows he will suffer some blows.

“We have to concentrate on what we will do on the pitch, then in March we will meet again and I am convinced that we will play two great matches.”

Portugal to face giant hurdle in playoff bracket

Ronaldo and Bonucci spent three successful years together at Juventus, winning two Serie A titles. Ronaldo will be very familiar with the Italian style of defence having faced off against them in training for Juventus and on the pitch against other Serie A teams.

He will bank on his abilities which led him to score 101 goals in 134 games in Bianconeri colours playing against some of the best Italian defences.

However, they will have to get past the hurdle of Turkey who have proven to be a big obstacle in games like these. If they manage to take down Turkey, Euro 2020 winners Italy will prove an even bigger obstacle.

Ronaldo will no doubt be the main man for Portugal but will also have a plethora of stars to back him up as he seeks to lead the team to what could be his last World Cup and major tournament for his nation.

FIFA president Gianni Infantino is still facing a major obstacle in Aleksander Ceferin and UEFA in his plans for a biennial World Cup.

FIFA plans to hold a stakeholders meeting with its 211 member nations on Monday. Ahead of the meeting, FIFA released the results of a fan survey which shows a majority disposition to a more frequent World Cup.

FIFA’s survey claims 63.7 percent of football fans surveyed would like to see a more frequent World Cup tournament. However, the survey respondents voted in favour of a more frequent World Cup if it will not increase player workload.

Meanwhile, UEFA has come out with their own reports and has warned of a “deeply negative outlook” for international football should FIFA’s plans scale.

Also, in FIFA’ survey, European fans made up a small percentage of the majority vote and the major percentage of the minority vote of 48 percent who voted against the biennial World Cup.

The minority vote against the biennial World Cup came from three of the strongest footballing nations of England, Germany and France which also presents a headache for President Infantino.

The results of the FIFA survey and UEFA’s stance

Majority of Europe were against it, but 10 percent of the English fans surveyed were in favour of the idea.

African and Asian fans made up the majority of the positive responses with 76 percent and 66 percent of fans from these continents voting for the idea respectively.

Age also played a role in the votes, with the younger fan demographic mostly in support and the older ones opposing the idea.

UEFA’s study to rival FIFA’s survey “raise severe concerns over the sustainability of the plan for European associations”, according to reports. UEFA’s study also noted that the plans for the biennial World Cup raised issues for other sports, a concern previously brought up by the International Olympic Committee.

UEFA’s study had a survey in which only 25 percent of European fans gave their yeses while 40 percent said they would watch less knockout and group matches and 60 percent thought the World Cup’s prestige would drop.

UEFA’s statement read: “In this dark sporting context, the research conducted by Oliver & Ohlbaum projects a deeply negative outlook for European national team football, should the FIFA plan be implemented.

“Adding up the losses from centralised revenues (media rights of men’s European Qualifiers and Nations League; distributions from UEFA EURO) and from individual sources such as ticketing and sponsorships, revenues for European national associations might drop between €2.5 and €3 billion over a cycle of four years, depending on the number of qualifying windows available (two or just one).

“Echoing the clear objections expressed by the European stakeholders on several occasions and the firm and motivated opposition announced by fans’ organisations, UEFA believes that radical changes should be proposed only if they result in clear and unquestionable benefits for the game and its actors.”

Why is FIFA proposing a biennial World Cup?

FIFA claims that a biennial World Cup will create more funds that could benefit African, Asian and South American member nations who have a greater reliance on FIFA funds.

FIFA President Gianni Infantino also wants to “make football truly global” by opening up the World Cup to smaller countries.

This move has already begun with the expansion of the tournament to 48 teams from 2026 and is expected to solidify with the biennial World Cup.