Rodrygo said arch-rivals Argentina could pose a threat after their continental success.
Highlighting the divisions, the former French diplomat pointed out that the top European clubs spend millions on players while Papua New Guinea's football federation struggles to pay air fares for its team.
Cameroon were suspended indefinitely by FIFA on Thursday because of government interference in the country's football federation.
FIFA has admitted that it would be using the next World Cup to display FIFA's zero-tolerance policy against any form of discrimination, in view of receiving widespread criticism of its lackluster efforts in Brazil during the World Cup held earlier this year.
In a major development for Indian football and judiciary, world governing body FIFA has turned to Justice Mukul Mudgal, who has been appointed as deputy chairman of its governance committee.
FIFA president blasts critics, says salary not decided.
- 'No independent governance committee, investigator or arbitration panel can change the culture of an organization' - 'FIFA's ethics committee was created to increase the transparency of the organisation, that's what we wanted, but in the end it has just caused more confusion for FIFA'
Former French football great Michel Platini, until recently seen as the man to lead soccer's governing body FIFA out of its worst ever graft crisis, could face a life ban from the sport if recommendations from FIFA ethics investigators are followed.
Suspended FIFA President Sepp Blatter and European soccer boss Michel Platini were both banned for eight years on Monday by FIFA's Ethics Committee.
The ethics committee of world soccer governing body FIFA said on Saturday it had completed its investigation into the conduct of FIFA President Sepp Blatter and UEFA president Michel Platini and requested sanctions against them.
The Indian National Football Team achieved its best-ever FIFA Ranking since February 1996 as they were ranked 96 in the July FIFA Rankings released on Thursday.
Finds no cause to block Russia and Qatar World Cups
The captains of England, Wales, Belgium, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Germany and Denmark will not wear "OneLove" armbands after FIFA made it clear they would be booked, the associations said in a joint statement on Monday.
The Local Organising Committee of the FIFA U-17 World Cup India 2017 (LOC) on Tuesday unveiled the official emblem for what will be the country's first international football event. The ceremony at a posh city hotel here was attended by FIFA President Gianni Infantino, and Chairman of the LOC and All India Football Federation (AIFF) Praful Patel.
Byju's is set to go the way of Housing.com and Zilingo. It is only a matter of time. Indeed, the coup attempted by investors will ensure that, says Debashis Basu.
FIFA's ethics watchdog on Wednesday imposed a warning and 7,000 Swiss franc ($7,055) fine on German football great Franz Beckenbauer for stonewalling an investigation.
English FA president Prince William called on FIFA to reform and show that "it can represent the interests of fair play" in a speech at the FA Cup final on Saturday.
While the Indian women's football team holds the 60th position in the FIFA rankings, the men's team ranks 100.
For the first time in its history, the American sportswear manufacturer will be providing the kit for the two finalists, France and Croatia.
An internal investigation of suspended FIFA President Joseph "Sepp" Blatter has found no evidence of corruption over a 2 million Swiss franc (1.3 million) payment to European football head Michel Platini, the Swiss newspaper Handelszeitung said on Wednesday.
World Cup sponsors are in an awkward position, experts said, because they are under pressure from consumers to distance themselves from any corruption, but such sponsorships are lucrative in the long term.
News of all that transpired on and off the football field.
"His decision has nothing, absolutely nothing, to do with the allegations going around".
'Racism is combatted with education, condemnation and discussion,' said the FIFA chief.
"The Asian Football Confederation expresses its disappointment and sadness at Wednesday's events in Zurich whilst opposing any delay in the FIFA Presidential elections to take place on Friday May 29 in Zurich," the AFC said in a statement posted on its website (the-afc.com) on Thursday.
Banned European soccer boss president Michel Platini has withdrawn his candidacy from the race for the presidency of soccer's scandal-plagued governing body FIFA, he told French sports daily L'Equipe on Thursday.
Video assistant referees (VARs) will be used at the World Cup for the first time in this year's finals in Russia, FIFA president Gianni Infantino said on Friday, and teams will be allowed a fourth substitute in matches that go to extra-time.
Spanish soccer boss' mother taken to hospital after hunger strike
Switzerland's highest court rejected former European soccer boss Michel Platini's bid to overturn his four-year ban from the sport over ethics violations, the court said on Thursday.
FIFA has rejected a demand from a presidential candidate to use transparent voting booths at next week's election to ensure delegates do not photograph their ballot papers when they choose the head of football's world ruling body.
FIFA's ethics committee will investigate reported comments by the former head of England's Football Association claiming a Russian-Spanish bribery conspiracy over the 2018 World Cup bid.
The parent body of the sport, gave the world a glimpse of the ball by posting a picture of it on FIFA's official Twitter handle.
Former FIFA president Sepp Blatter lost his appeal against a six-year ban for ethics violations, imposed amid the biggest corruption scandal to shake the world soccer body, the Court of Arbitration for Sport said.
Former FIFA presidential candidate Prince Ali Bin Al Hussein of Jordan is concerned about the pace of reform in world soccer's governing body and says new president Gianni Infantino has "no time to lose" in bringing transparency to the organisation.
Blatter said the recent World Cup in Qatar was emblematic of the larger issue affecting his sport: over-commercialization.
Real Madrid and city rivals Atletico have dismissed reports in Spanish media of a possible FIFA ban from the next two transfer windows over breaches of rules on the signing of foreign Under-18 players.
The vice president was in Doha to attend the inauguration of the FIFA World Cup.
FIFA is to open an investigation into a possible breach of its ethics code by presidential candidate Mohamed Bin Hammam and executive committee member Jack Warner, football's ruling body said on Wednesday.
A member of the financial watchdog committee at soccer's ruling body FIFA has been charged with fraud, money-laundering and breach of trust by police in the Cayman Islands.
"This 11 billion figure is without the club World Cup (in 2025). At the end of the four years we will make even more revenue," Infantino told a news conference.