Former Argentina captain Diego Maradona has been handed an ambassadorial role by the game's global governing body FIFA.
The new format will be made up of 16 groups of three teams.
FIFA will carry out a feasibility study on holding the World Cup and the women's World Cup every two years after backing a proposal at its annual congress on Friday.
Swiss authorities have again searched the Zurich headquarters of FIFA and seized documents and electronic data in its corruption probe surrounding the global soccer body, the Swiss attorney general's office said on Friday.
Normally the ceremony is conducted before the kick-off of the first game of the tournament.
Here's what you need to know about the opening ceremony of the Nov. 20-Dec. 18 World Cup in Qatar
FIFA president Gianni Infantino said a wind of change was blowing through football's scandal-plagued world governing body after announcing a sponsorship deal with China's Wanda Group on Friday.
Reactions to collapse of Denmark midfielder Christian Eriksen
A debatable penalty awarded with the use of FIFA's new video replay system proved a turning point in the World Cup final on Sunday and raised more questions over whether the new technology is being used in the way it was originally intended.
Kiev's Olympic stadium will host the final of the 2018 Champions League, the first final of Europe's top club competition to be held in Ukraine, UEFA said on Thursday.
In the early hours Monday, his body arrived under fireworks in the city of about 430,000 people from Sao Paulo's Albert Einstein Hospital.
Qatar inaugurated the fourth of eight 2022 World Cup venues, the Al Rayyan Stadium, when the country hosted the Amir Cup final between Al-Sadd and Al-Arabi on Friday.
World football governing body chief Gianni Infantino, on Friday, described the FIFA U-17 World Cup as a "resounding success" but refrained from giving any commitment on the country's bid to host the U-20 World Cup in 2019.
The proposals outline what would effectively be a mini-World Cup, featuring eight international teams, every two years in addition to the traditional event.
World soccer body FIFA had threatened seven European teams with sporting sanctions if they wore it at the World Cup with the federations backing down.
European soccer's governing body have asked FIFA to investigate the alleged distribution from their headquarters of an anonymous heavily critical 'dossier' on UEFA president Michel Platini, German newspaper Welt am Sonntag reported on Sunday.
Gianni Infantino, president of world soccer body FIFA, looked forward to a time when matches no longer had to be played without spectators due to the crisis.
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.
Prosecutors had accused Blatter, a Swiss who led global soccer body FIFA for 17 years, and Platini, of unlawfully arranging for FIFA to pay the Frenchman two million Swiss francs ($2.06 million) in 2011.
FIFA president Gianni Infantino hailed Qatar's progress on infrastructure ahead of its 2022 World Cup and said the tournament is poised to be the best one yet.
Real Madrid star Vinicius racially attacked for 10th time this season.
Iranian women have been banned from stadiums when men's teams have been playing, since just after the 1979 Islamic revolution.
FIFA president Sepp Blatter and his UEFA counterpart Michel Platini could face a six-year ban from football-related activities due to corruption proceedings against them.
Crimean clubs have been suspended by UEFA from playing in Russian domestic competitions.
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.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
This will be the second FIFA tournament India will be hosting, after the Under-17 men's World Cup in 2017.
Football's law-making body the International FA Board (IFAB) will meet on Saturday and discuss VAR and the off-side law, although no proposal has been tabled for a concrete law change.
The Iranian group OpenStadiums, which is campaigning for the right of women to attend sports fixtures in the Islamic Republic, said that some women were arrested near Azadi stadium on Thursday during the Esteghlal-Persepolis match.
'That's what we're trying to do, by creating a tournament that is much more attractive than the current one, with more quality among participants and more clubs. That will attract more sponsors and television companies from around the world'
Sepp Blatter said he will not support any of the five candidates standing to succeed him as FIFA president, through all but one of them had spoken to him about their bids.
The World Cup will expand to 48 teams from its current 32, starting with the 2026 edition of football's showpiece tournament.
Australia and New Zealand were handed the right to host the 2023 Women's World Cup soccer tournament by a comfortable margin after a vote by the FIFA Council on Thursday. Their joint proposal beat a rival bid from Colombia to host the tournament which is being expanded to 32 teams.
The Moroccan Football Federation on Thursday complained to world soccer's governing body FIFA over what it said were a series of refereeing mistakes in their World Cup Group B matches against Portugal and Spain which led to their elimination.
UEFA wants consistent sanctions against match-fixing across Europe and has drafted an 11-point plan to help make that happen, general secretary Gianni Infantino said on Thursday.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
Hosts Russia will kick off next year's World Cup finals versus Saudi Arabia in Moscow and defending champions Germany will start against Mexico after Friday's draw threw up some mouthwatering clashes.
Saudi Arabia's crown prince and the presidents of Egypt, Turkey and Algeria, as well as the United Nations Secretary-General, are among leaders at the in a tent-shaped stadium ahead of the first match between the hosts and Ecuador.
The CONCACAF region is widely viewed as favourite to host the 2026 tournament given FIFA rules that restrict Europe and Asia from hosting again so quickly.
Blatter, who led world soccer's governing body for 17 years, was suspended from the sport for six years for ethics violations in 2015 amid the biggest corruption scandal to shake FIFA.
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