Wenger calls for World Cup to take place every two years

Posted Tuesday, October 13, 2020 by Marca.com

Arsene Wenger has called for the World Cup and European Championship to be held every two years rather than every four as has traditionally been the case.

The legendary former Arsenal coach is FIFA's Chief of Global Football Development where he oversees and directs the growth of both the men and women's game across the world.

With another international break currently taking place, Wenger mentioned his preference of having a World Cup and European Championship being hosted every other year, and raised concern over the current format of the UEFA Nations League.

"One World Cup and one European Championship every other year would probably be more appropriate for a modern world," Wenger told Bild.

Wenger insists that the competitions would not be watered down if they were held more frequently, citing the Champions League as a reference.

"I always tell people who say that the image is not linked to the time you wait before playing again, but rather the quality of the competition. After all, people also watch the Champions League every year. Personally, I think it would be a great step forward." he stated.

The Nations League was recently introduced to the European international stage as a way of replacing meaningless friendlies with competitive fixtures, but Wenger feels that it has not done much to raise excitement levels and should be scrapped altogether.

"We need to get rid of the Nations League and find clearer events that everyone understands," Wenger said.

"If you ask people in the street what the Nations League is, you won't find many able to explain it. We need to have as few events as possible."

The statements made by Wenger are purely of his own accord rather than an official proposal on behalf of FIFA.

It should be noted that, for now, FIFA already has the next three World Cups planned: 2022 (Qatar), 2026 (Mexico, United States and Canada) and 2030 (venue to be determined). One of the main changes is that the final phase of the tournament will see 48 competing, rather than 32 as has recently been the case. Additionally, instead of four teams in each group, there will be 16 groups of three nations.