The big news:  FIFA World Cup grows bigger

The Fifa World Cup will be expanded to 48 teams, up from the current 32, with the governing body making the move official. Fifa officials voted for the change at a meeting in Zurich on Tuesday. The change will come into effect from the 2026 World Cup. The move will be welcomed by African and Asian countries, who are expecting their World Cup quota to go up from the current four spots apiece.

An initial stage of 16 groups of three teams each will precede a knockout round, which will feature the top teams from each group. The number of matches will rise to 80 from 64, but the group winners will still play a maximum of only seven games. The tournament will be completed within 32 days to ensure that European clubs are happy with the approval. European clubs disagreed with the reform owing to a crowded international schedule.

Other top stories

  1. Manchester United beat Hull City 2-0 in the first leg-semi-final of the EFL Cup. Goals from Juan Mata and Marouane Fellanini in the second half powered the Red Devils a step closer to their first major trophy this season. 
  2. Chelsea captain John Terry will serve a one-match ban after his appeal against the red card in Sunday’s FA Cup win over Peterborough was rejected. Terry was dismissed by referee Kevin Friend for a foul on Lee Angol in the second half of the 4-1 win.
  3. The India U-17 team beat Belarus U-18 1-0 in their second match of the Granatkin Memorial Cup in Saint Petersburg in Russia. Komal scored the only goal of the game. India lost their tournament opener 0-8 to hosts Russia.      
  4. Schalke FC have signed Holger Badstuber on loan from Bayern Munich for six months. Badstuber has had a string of bad injuries and has only played 18 out of 135 Bundesliga games over the past four years.
  5. Arsenal have completed the signing of 20-year-old left-back Cohen Bramall from non-league club Hedensford Town for a fee that is reportedly in the range of a paltry £40,000 (Rs 33.2 lakh). 
  6. Brazilian World Cup-winning captain Cafu has tipped his compatriot Neymar to break the Lionel Messi-Cristiano Ronaldo duopoly at the Fifa awards. Cafu opined that the Barcelona forward is not “far from them”.
  7. Real Madrid have sent Norway’s Martin Odegaard on an 18-month loan to Dutch side Heerenveen. Odegaard joined Real as a 16-year-old from Stromsgodset two years ago. He was a target for most of Europe’s top sides, including Manchester United and Liverpool.
  8. Liverpool will demand £20 million (Rs 166 crore) for defender Mamadou Sakho if he moves during the January transfer window. Galatasaray, Southampton and Sevilla have shown an interest in France defender.
  9. Manchester United have agreed to sell Morgan Schneiderlin to Everton for £22 million (Rs 182 crore), according to BBC. Schneiderlin was brought to United by Louis van Gaal for £25 million from Southampton. He has played 47 times for the club, but has only featured eight times under Jose Mourinho this season.
  10. A statue of footballer Lionel Messi has been vandalised in Buenos Aires. The bronze statue was broken in half and the torso, arms and head removed. The motive for the damage is yet to ascertained but city officials say repairs to the statue are already under way.