5/8 world champion teams at risk of missing the 2030 World Cup

Teams that have won the World Cup are at risk of not participating in the 2030 World Cup if the conflict between UEFA and FIFA President Gianni Infantino keeps intensifying.

A "bomb" has just been detonated in the world of football after the new proposal by FIFA President Gianni Infantino. UEFA reacted strongly upon learning that FIFA wants to establish FIFA Forward Enterprise (FFE), a new subsidiary to attract private investment capital into major tournaments such as the men's World Cup, Club World Cup, and Women's World Cup.

Infantino explained: ""This is a new subsidiary tasked with increasing commercial value and transferring all that value back to FIFA member associations. The principle is very simple: we will merge all commercial and event operations into FIFA Forward Enterprise, while FIFA continues to be responsible for the management, development, and governance of football.""

So far, everything seemed fine. However, later, the FIFA President continued: ""To optimize the financial structure and create more value, we will invite a limited number of long-term strategic partners to join this subsidiary in exchange for a minority stake. These will be long-term partners, and let me emphasize that all profits generated by FIFA Forward Enterprise will be reinvested back into football."

This statement caused UEFA to react fiercely.

UEFA rises up against Infantino's new proposal

Although Infantino affirmed that each member association would be guaranteed to receive immediately 20 million USD if they agree to the new plan, UEFA still firmly rejects it.

The European football governing body declared: "UEFA and its 55 member associations are always united. We unanimously and firmly reject FIFA's proposal to transfer ownership of the World Cup and other FIFA tournaments to private investors."

UEFA also issued a strong warning: "After the meeting on July 30, no UEFA team will participate in FIFA tournaments as long as this proposal exists, unless the plan is completely canceled and FIFA makes a binding commitment that it will never open ownership of tournaments or governance structures to private investors."

World Cup champions who may be absent from the 2030 World Cup

If the plan to establish FIFA Forward Enterprise is approved and UEFA carries out its threat to boycott FIFA tournaments, the 2030 World Cup will risk missing a series of football powerhouses that have won the World Cup, including:

• Germany – 4-time champion (1954, 1974, 1990, 2014).
• Italy – 4-time champion (1934, 1938, 1982, 2006).
• France – 2-time champion (1998, 2018).
• Spain – 2-time champion (2010, 2026).
• England – 1-time champion (1966).

If this scenario happens, the 2030 World Cup will witness one of the biggest upheavals in the history of world football.