FIFA President Gianni Infantino has told the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, about the impact of the FIFA World Cup™, saying that the world stands still for the tournament which brings joy and happiness to people everywhere.

Mr Infantino also discussed the economic impact of the FIFA World Cup 2026™ which will take place from 11 June to 19 July 2026 in Canada, Mexico and the United States and will feature 48 teams for the first time, playing 104 matches in 16 Host Cities across North America.

Quoting a study conducted by FIFA and the World Trade Organization (WTO) last year, he said the tournament could generate USD 80.1 billion in gross output globally, add up to USD 40.9 billion dollars in Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and create 824,000 jobs.

“The world stands still because the (FIFA) World Cup and football has really an impact on the lives, on the moods of people like (nothing) else. There is nothing anywhere close to what football does. It changes the mood not just of people, but of countries,” he said.

“In these particular times, we forget to be happy, to be joyful. Everyone has their own problems, issues in life, and with football, we want to give to communities all over the world. (There are) 211 countries which are members of FIFA; we want to give them a moment of joy and happiness. When a child kicks a ball, when an adult kicks a ball, they don’t think about their issues and their problems in life, and we have to always remember that.”

He added: “People want occasions to meet, to come together, to spend time, to celebrate. And this is what we try to give them. We try to give them this emotion. Today, that’s what is missing.”

The level of interest in the FIFA World Cup 2026 was so high that FIFA had already received 500 million requests for tickets, a number which Mr Infantino described as “incredible” and said showed the level of trust in the tournament organisation. “People want to travel, they want to go, they want to feel the vibe of the (FIFA) World Cup, they want to be together,” he said. “We hope that the stages and the stadiums will be prepared to let the real actors of the (FIFA) World Cup – the players – to shine. Our job is to prepare the stage, and their job is to shine on the stage.”

The FIFA President’s speech was followed by a panel discussion with FIFA Chief of Global Football Development Arsène Wenger and legend Alessandro Del Piero, a FIFA World Cup winner with Italy in 2006.

Mr Wenger explained that FIFA’s revenue from the tournament would be reinvested in football development around the world, with the aim of giving more countries the opportunity to compete at the highest level.

“All the money goes to the federations to develop their infrastructures. And because I travel a lot today, you should see how much every federation has developed because of the funds they get from FIFA,” he said.

“I’m now in football development, and I realise how big football has become in the world when you speak about the number of tickets people want. You cannot imagine. I travel all over the world (and) everywhere, football has become the most important thing people talk about.”

He said that expansion of the FIFA World Cup to 48 teams was a necessary part of developing the game globally. “We had to open it to the world. And I think it’s the minimum we could do – to open (it) to more African countries, more Asian countries, because we want football to be strong everywhere,” he said.

Alessandro Del Piero echoed the FIFA President’s words about football bringing happiness. “If I have to pick a word in this specific moment that we are living now, with a lot of problems that happen everywhere – about wars, about bad news that we hear every day more and more – (then) what football can bring is definitely joy,” he said. “That’s one of the meanings of this (FIFA) World Cup, for sure.”