FIFA president Gianni Infantino is thrilled with the opening spherical of matches on this World Cup which have thrown up some shocking outcomes and have ensured a knockout participant from each continent of the world.
“I have seen all the matches, and this has been the best group stage of a World Cup ever. The matches have been of great quality in beautiful stadiums,” stated Infantino, who has usually confronted a barrage of boos when in-stadia cameras have panned on him throughout matches. “There are no more small teams and no more big teams. The level is very equal. For the first time, national teams from all continents [are] going to the knock-out phase. This shows that football is really becoming truly global.”
The FIFA president stated the matches had “over 51,000 on average [spectators]. Record-breaking figures on TV – we already had over two billion viewers,” however few video games in Doha did undergo from less-than-full stadiums. The FIFA skyboxes meant for sponsors and different high-ranking people notably bore a abandoned look on many events.
Infantino expects “we will reach the five [TV] billion viewers around the world,” earlier than the event ends and can be hoping that the on-field motion will proceed to be as riveting as the primary 56 video games.
“We simply want to give some joy and some smiles to people all over the world. That’s what football is about, that’s what the World Cup is about, and that’s what should happen from now until the end. We have already seen some great action on the field, which, finally, is the most important part of what you do, some of the biggest stars performing very, very well,” he stated. “Now, we reach, really, the top competitive phase where, of course, the big stars, the big players, the big teams, will make the difference on the pitch. So, I hope, we will see a fantastic conclusion of this World Cup.”
FIFA WORLD CUP RELATED STORIES