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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
Sport
Samuel Meade

Kylian Mbappe hits nail on the head with argument on holding a World Cup every two years

Kylian Mbappe is firmly against a biennial World Cup insisting it would take away from the glamour of the tournament.

FIFA are looking to hold the global event once every two years, rather than every four.

The idea, championed by former Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger, is motivated by a desire to continue growing the game whilst they have also highlighted the financial rewards on offer.

Mbappe and his French side are the current world champions following their success in Russia back in 2018.

They will look to defend their crown next winter in Qatar as the competition is played outside the normal summer window for the first time, which in itself has divided opinion.

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The PSG man believes a regular World Cup would make the tournament something of a normality whilst he also cited concerns over player welfare.

"[It is] the best thing, the best competition in the world," he said.

"If you hold it every two years, it can start to be normal to play [in the] World Cup. I want to say that's not normal. That [should be] something amazing.

"We play over 60 games in a year. You have Euros, the World Cup, now the Nations League - so many competitions. We are happy to play but when it's too much, it's too much. We have to recover, we have to stay relaxed.

"If people want to see quality in the game, the emotion, to see what makes the beauty of football, I think we have to respect the health of players."

CAF, Africa's governing body, are behind the motion but UEFA and their South American counterparts CONMEBOL are against it.

The delayed Euros means European nations are having to play two major tournaments in the space of 18 months, which is the same for those in South America.

African nations meanwhile will contest their continental tournament and the World Cup in the same year.

FIFA want to host the event every two years (NOUSHAD THEKKAYIL/EPA-EFE/REX/Shutterstock)

Bayern Munich's Robert Lewandowski has also cited issues around the quality of the tournament, which is likely to dip due to player fatigue.

"We have so many games every year, so many tough weeks, not only the games but preparation for the season, preparation for the big tournaments," said the 33-year-old.

"If you want to offer something special, something different, we also need a break.

"If we have a World Cup every two years, the expectation is the time where footballers play at a high level will go down... It is physically and mentally impossible."

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