Emir bagatelle
World of football , Issue 1665 GIANNI Infantino's decision to award a phoney peace prize to Donald Trump was far from the first time he has fêted a strongman leader.

The Fifa president maintains a close bond with Qatar's emir, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani, whose country hosted the World Cup in 2022. Throughout the tournament, Infantino stood up for Qatar amid fierce criticism over its treatment of migrant workers and outlawing of same-sex relationships.

Now Infantino's friend Qatar has reached its first World Cup on foreign soil. The emir's team was a beneficiary of recent format and qualifying changes to the tournament.

Home comforts
At the behest of Infantino, the 2026 World Cup has been expanded from 32 to 48 teams, and that change doubled the number of Asian teams directly qualifying, from four to eight.

Once six nations had claimed qualifying spots, there was an additional round in which six teams battled for the last two Asian places – and Qatar and Saudi Arabia were given favourable treatment by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), much to the annoyance of rivals. The AFC organised two mini-tournaments, with the winner of each securing a spot.

Rather than being held in a neutral country, the events took place in Qatar and Saudi Arabia, giving the pair a home advantage. The format also allowed Qatari and Saudi Arabian players six days' rest between their two matches while opponents had to play within 72 hours of their first game.

Lo and behold, Qatar and Saudi Arabia qualified!

Regardless of the helpful format, it's still a major achievement for Qatar's men's team. Just don't expect a similar showing at the 2027 Women's World Cup in Brazil. The oil-rich nation's women's team have not played a competitive match since 2014.