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FIFA president Gianni Infantino looks set to continue the work of his predecessor, Sepp Blatter, and disgraced UEFA president Michel Platini in expanding the World Cup to 40 teams.

The 2018 World Cup in Russia and the 2022 World Cup in Qatar will each feature the current format of 32 teams, which came into use for the 1998 edition of the tournament, but Infantino believes the 2026 World Cup will feature 40 national sides. 

33-year-old Franck Ribery is aiming to recapture the form that saw him named UEFA’s Best Player in Europe for 2012-13. The following three seasons for the Frenchman, all under Pep Guardiola, have seen his appearances and goalscoring totals dwindle.

Ribery was plagued by injuries last year, and he only managed to score two goals in 22 games for Bayern Munich. Ribery, who’d finished third in the 2013 FIFA Ballon d’Or voting, is desperate to get back to his brilliant best. 

Lionel Messi has had enough of sitting on his yacht in Ibiza presumably replaying his Copa America penalty miss over and over. Messi wasn’t due to join his Barcelona teammates in preseason training until August 1st, but the former Argentine international has forgone his extended break in favor of returning to training.

Messi is back https://t.co/mTyGZGGOz5

Wayne Rooney’s preseason has been priceless. After captaining England to a disastrous showing at Euro 2016, Rooney took a brief vacation before joining Manchester United’s preseason training under new manager Jose Mourinho. His first viral sensation of the new campaign occurred after he was double nutmegged by Memphis Depay and Daley Blind. 

Wayne Rooney gets megged twice in training, by Depay and Blind.pic.twitter.com/qmFT5XYevY

The headlines of 2016 continue to amaze and bewilder in equal measure. Now, we’ve reached peak-2016 with the announcement of Jose Mourinho banning Pokemon Go before matches.

That’s right. A “source” has informed the Daily Star that Mourinho is determined to have his players focused on the task at hand and not on triumphing at the Old Trafford gym.

What would you do if Mario Balotelli showed up at your wedding?

This question is more serious than it may sound at first, because this weekend, while his LFC teammates were training in America, Mario Balotelli showed up at someone's wedding. Or, at least, he showed up in their wedding photos.

The living legend that is Didier Drogba is approaching his 20th season of professional soccer, and he’s showing no signs of slowing down. The former Chelsea striker lifted the Montreal Impact into the MLS playoffs for the first time in their history last season, and he’s almost certain to have an even more influential campaign this time around following his resounding hat-trick against Philadelphia. 

To say that Marc Wilmots underperformed as Belgium manager at Euro 2016 is akin to saying the USA men’s basketball team was off the pace at the 2006 Olympics or that the Republican Party hasn’t put their best foot forward for the 2016 presidential election. Wilmots screwed the pooch.

The 1962 FIFA World Cup was the seventh edition of the international competition, and it will long be remembered as the most brutally violent.

An injury to Pele, a match between Chile and Italy that became known as the Battle of Santiago and the inspiration for the use of yellow and red cards to clearly define offenses are some of the lasting legacies of the '62 World Cup in Chile.