FIFA President wants North-South Korea friendly

FIFA President Gianni Infantino on Wednesday said he was willing to try and organise a football match between North and South Korea as a way of easing hostility on the divided peninsula.

On his visit to South Korea which coincided with a recent rise in tensions between the two states, Infantino said such a match would highlight the spirit of football as a game “beyond borders” that can unify rather than divide. “We should bring everyone together around a football match… I’m ready to help and assist in whatever way is necessary,” Infantino told reporters.

After North Korea’s nuclear test in January and a ballistic missile test staged a month later, has seen military tensions running high between the regions.

The two Koreas last held a friendly match in Seoul in 2005. Before that they played two consecutive games in October 1990, in Seoul and Pyongyang, under the title “Inter-Korea Unification” matches. “Sometimes imagination can come true. Sometimes dreams can come true. These things can become a reality,” Infantino said.

Infantino also defended moves to increase the number of teams participating in the World Cup to 40, beginning in 2026. “I believe that it’s important to increase the number of teams on the World Cup because we have to be more inclusive,” he said. “Eight more teams will be perfectly justifiable,” he said, adding he was considering six more berths for the Asia region.