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TheWorld Cup isgetting
bigger. And it maybe coming
backto the U.S. too.
On Tuesday the FIFA
Council, the ruling body for
world soccer’s governingor-
ganization, unanimously ap-
proved a planto expandthe
quadrennial tournament
from 32 to 48 teams by 2026.
The fieldwillbe divided into16
three-tea m groups,with the
top two finishers in each
group advancingto the next
round.
The numberof matches
playedin the tournament will
alsogrow,from64to 80games,
as will thetournament’s rev e-
nue.FIFAforecaststhatanin-
crease in broadcast and spon-
sorshiprights, plusadditional
ticketsales,willmake the2026
event worth $1 billion more
thanthe 2018 tournament in
Russia, which is expected to
bring in $5.5 billion.
Tuesday’s council vote
also madegood on FIFA Pres-
ident Gianni Infantino’s
promiseto make the most
prestigious competition in
global sports larger and more
inclusive.
“Wehave to shapethe foot-
ball World Cup of the21st cen-
tury,” said Infantino,whowas
elected last February and
charged with cleaning up the
scandal-plagued organiza-
tion.
This is the secondexpan-
sionto the World Cupsince
1994, when theU.S. hosted the
event forthe only time.Four
years after that tournament,
the field expandedby eight
teams,to 32,byaddi ngqualifi-
ers from Africa, Asia and
North America.
No determination has
been maderegarding which of
FIFA’s sixcontinentalgroups
will getadditional qualifiers in
2026, although a decision is
expected byMay.
“No guarantees have been
made,” Infantino said.“The
only sure thing is thatobvi-
ously, with 48 teams,everyone
will have a bit more than they
do today.”
For the 2018 tournament in
Russia, Europe will receive 13
automatic berths, as many as
the next three largest federa-
tions combined. Asia and Af-
rica couldbethebiggest bene-
ficiaries of tournamentex-
pansion, earningas manyas
nine places each.
The winners of the 20
World Cups have all come
from Europe and South
America.
Stewart Regan, head of
Scotland’s soccer federations,
was amongthose welcoming
Tuesday’s vote. “We believe
this is a positive step,particu-
larly for the smallnations,”
Regantold the BBC.
"We believe it will allow
more fansacross the globeto
revelintheircountry'spartici-
pation ata World Cupfinals,”he continued.“A greater ec-
lectic mix of footballing cul-
tures at the FIFA World Cup
will create a bigger and better
atmospherethaneverbefore."
FIFA concedes a larger
field willdiminish the quality
of play, but Infantino believes
the expansion will also create
additionalexcitement bygiv-
ing fans in16 more countries
the hope ofwatching their
teams play in a World Cup.
Overtime, FIFA said,that will
force national federations to
improve their operations.
Infantinosaid FIFA will
helpthat process by increas-
ing funding to all 211 member
nations.
FIFA is scheduled to de-
cide ona host for the 2026
tournament inMay 2020. And
though Sunil Gulati, presi-
dent of theU.S. SoccerFed-
eration,said no decision has
been made regarding a bid to
stage the event in theUnited
States, informal talks have
been held amongU.S., Cana-
dian andMexican officialsre-
garding a joint application.
TheU.S., either alone or
with its neighbors,seems a
likel y site for the event, given
FIFA rules blocking Europe
and Asiafrom staging the
World Cupthat year. Russia
will play hostto the 2018 event
and Qatar, a member of the
Asian federation, will stage
the 2022tournament, prohib-
iting both federationsfrom
bidding for another World
Cup until 2030.
And Afric a and South
America hosted the 2010 and
2014 events, in South Africaand Brazil.
But North America— and
especiallythe U.S. — probably
would be the favore d host,
even without thoserestric-
tions.
An expandedfield will re-
quire expanded facilities, and
the U.S. already has thetrans-
portation and housing infra-
structure to handle that. The
U.S. also has a number of sta-
diums big enough to host
World Cup matches and, as it
proved with 2015’s Copa
America Centenario, it has
the logistical andtechnical
know-how tostage alarge
event.
The Copa Americawasthe
largest and most successful
tournament in the event’s his-
tory, just as the 1994 World
Cup intheU.S. setattendance
records that still stand.
Awardingthe2026eventto
North Americawould also al-
low the U.S. to stage the open-
ing or closing match in Phila-
delphia onJuly 4, thecoun-
try’s 250t h birthday, and
could be a way for Infantinoto
rewardGulatiforrallyingsup-
port to his successful presi-
dential bid in lastwinter’s
FIFA election.
But,given charges of brib-
ery and corruption in the vote
thatresulted in Russia and
Qatar getting the nexttwo
tournaments, Infantino said
the processto award the 2026
eventmustbe“bulletproof”to
meet FIFA’s new integrity
rules.[email protected]
Twitter: kbaxter11World Cup will expand to 48teams
The 2026 event will
have16 three-team
groups, and theU.S. is
a likely host.
ByKevin Baxter
WESTERNCONFERENCE
Pacific W LOLPtsGFGA
San Jose 25 14 252110 93
DUCKS 22 13852115 113
Edmonton2 1157 49 12 3118
Calgary2 2192 46 11 4119
KINGS 20 17444102 105
Vancouver 20 19444106 123
Arizona 12 22 63086128
Central W LOLPtsGFGA
Chicago2 7125 59 12 4107
Minnesota 2595 55 123 85
St. Louis 21 15547117 123
Nashville 18 16743114 111
Winnipeg 20 20343118 126
Dallas 17 17842109 127
Colorado 13 25 12779130
Note: Overtime or shootout losses
are worth one point.EASTERNCONFERENCE
Metropolitan W LOLPtsGFGA
Columbus 2884 60 135 90
Pittsburgh 2685 57 139 109
Washington 2695 57 115 84
N.Y. Rangers 28 13157146 107
Philadelphia 21 16648124 133
Carolina 19 15745109 111
New Jersey1 6188 40 95 124
N.Y. Islanders 15 15838106 117
Atlantic W LOLPtsGFGA
Montreal 25 10656125 97
Boston 22 17549110 108
Ottawa 21 14 44699102
Toronto 18 13844120 116
Florida 18 16 84498113
Tampa Bay1 9194 42 11 8127
Buffalo 16 15 94193110
Detroit 17 18640103 119NHL STANDINGS
RESULTS
AT DUCKS 2
DALLAS 0
John Gibson has 34 saves in his third shutoutthis
season, JakobSilf verberg and Andrew Cogliano score.AT CAROLINA 5
COLUMBUS 3
Jordan Staal scores thego-aheadgoal on a deflection
with 16:10 to play.AT BUFFALO 4
PHILADELPHIA 1
Evander Kane scores to capa three-goal second-period
surge and Anders Nilsson stops39 shots.AT NASHVILLE 2
VANCOUVER1 (OT)
Calle Jarnkrok scoresa short-handedgoal with1.5
seconds remaining in overtime.BOSTON 5
AT ST. LOUIS 3
Brad Marchand scores twice, including an empty netter,
and the Bruins improve to 2-0-1 in their last threegames.AT CHIC AGO 4
DETROIT3 (OT)
Dun can Keith scoresa power-play goal 38 seconds into
overtime and theBlackhawks win for fourthtime in a row.SAN JOSE 5
AT EDMONTON 3
MikkelBoedker has hisfourth careerhat trick and the
Sharks wintheir game ina row after lossingthree straight.For complete NHLsummaries,goto latimes.com/sports/scores
TODAY’SGAMES
Florida at New York Islanders,4 p.m. Montreal atWinnipeg, 4:30 p.m.
Pittsburgh at Washington,5 p.m. San Jose at Calgary, 6:30 p.m.
THURSDAY’SGAMES
DUCKSat Colorado,6 p.m. St. Louis at KINGS, 7:30 p.m.
Vancouver at Philadelphia,4 p.m. Pittsburgh at Ottawa, 4:30 p.m.
Buffalo atTampa Bay, 4:30 p.m. Boston at Nashville,5 p.m.
Montreal at Minnesota,5 p.m.Detroit at Dallas, 5:30 p.m.
New Jersey at Edmonton,6 p.m.Every All-Star center
needsa right-hand man.
Actually, right wing
Jakob Silfverberg seemedto
have his hands onevery-
thingTuesday— the puck,
the game and the appropri-
ate accolades on theday
linemate RyanKeslerwas
selected an All-Star.
“Tonight hewas a player
possessed,” Coach Randy
Carlyle said afterthe Ducks’
2-0 victory over the Dallas
Stars at Honda Center.
“He had the puck and no
one could get it away from
him.”
Perhaps Silfverberg’s
bestgame of the season in-
cluded a second-period
power-play goal anda pretty
setupof A ndrew Cogliano’s
third-period score to sup-
port goalieJohn Gibson’s
ninth career shutout.
Silfverberg hada short-
handedbidinthesecondpe-
riodand ahighlight take-
away in the third as part of
anotherterrificgame from
the line ofKesler, Silfverberg
and Cogliano.
“I think he’s on another
level now,” Cogliano said of
Silfverberg. “I’ve always
thought he’s one of the most
underrated in the league,to
be honest.When you play
with him, you app reciate
more aboutwhat he does in
terms ofhisstickbattles and
how hard he is on pucks.
When he’s playingwell, he’susually the best player on
the ice.”
Coglianowas no slouch
himself with eight shots on
goal. The linecombined for
17 of the Ducks’38 shots. It
has embraced thetop-line
role fully with Carlyle lean-
ing on them heavily.
“Confidenceisabigkeyin
this,” Silfverberg said.“Any-
timeyou know the coach be-
lieves in you, that’s going to
helpyour play out there and
that’s going to helpyou relax
more.When you’re relaxed
andyou have that confi-
dence, that’s whenyou play
your best hockey.”
There werefew scori ng
opportunities until the
Starsmadethree tripsto the
penalty box in the second
period to expose their30th-
ranked penalty-killing unit
to Anaheim.
Silfverberg cashed in his
12th goal when he banged inCorey Perry’s reboundfrom
the slot at14:33 to end a five-
game, 0-for-15 power-play
slump by the Ducks.
Cogliano’s 10th goal came
on a snap shotfrom the left
circle offa tape-to-tape pass
from Silfverberg on a rush.
Gibson hada good view
of the line on his way to 34
saves for his second shutout
in fourgames.
“I think they definitely
stepped up with [Ryan]
Getzlafout,” Gibson said.
“It’s niceto see. They always
have a big part everynight.”
Getzlaf sat outa four th
straightgame because of a
lower-body injury. Carlyle
said Getzlaf thought he
might play Tuesday but
when he skated in the morn-
ing “he didn’t think itwould
be safe at this point.”Enroth trade
TheDucksacquiredgoal-ie Jhonas Enrothfrom the
Toronto Maple Leafs in ex-
change for a seventh-round
draft pick in t he 2018 draft,
the team announced after
the game.
It is largely a depth move
with Dustin Tokarski in-
jure d. Enroth previously
played for the Kings.Thompson update
Ducks center Nate
Thompson said he feels
ahead of schedulefrom a
surgicallyrepairedAchilles’
tendonthatwas torn during
aworkout lastJune but is
not expectedto return until
after the Jan. 27-30 All-Star
break.
He began skating Sun-
day and said,“The first five
minutesIfeltlikeBambi,but
it started to come back
pret ty quick.
“It’s just good to be back
on the ice. It’s beena long
process. It’s good to feel like
ahockey player again.”
Thompson would give
the Ducks another strong
faceoff manto further solidi-
fy them down the middle.
He’s alsoa veteran penalty
killer and an unsungtwo-
way playerwho suffered the
injury during an agility drill
on turf when “I went to push
off and thatwas it.”[email protected]Silfverberg ‘on another level’
The winger has agoal
and an assist in the
Ducks’ win. Gibson
gets the shutout.
DUCKS 2
DALLAS 0ByCurtis ZupkeRICKARD RAKELLof the Ducksgets inside track
on the puck against Dan Hamhuis of the Dallas Stars.Chris CarlsonAssociated Pressand my family,” Doughty
said.
Competing at Staples
Center also holds signifi-
cance forFowler because it
was the site of the 2010 NHL
entry draft, in which the
Ducks chose him12th. “You
can kindof s ee things come
full circlethere,” he said.
Repeating last season’s
entertaining experiment,
the event will feature a
three-on-three tournament
inwhichteamsfromeachdi-
vision will meet in mini-
games of two 10-minutes
halves.Thewinnerswillface
off in thefinal. The Pacific
Division defeated the Cen-
tralandAtlanticdivisionsto
prevail at Nashville lastJan-
uary.
Thecoachesweredeter-
mined by which team had
the highestpoints percent-
age in theirrespective divi-
sions as the season hit the
halfway point Tuesday.
They are Montreal’s Michel
Therrien (Atlantic), Colum-
bus’John Tortore lla (Met-
ropolitan), Minnesota’s
Bruce Boudreau (Central),
and SanJose’s Peter De-
Boer (Pacific).
The captains will be
Pittsburgh center Sidney
Crosby (Metropolitan),
Montrealgoaltender Carey
Price (Atlantic), Edmonton
forwardand NHL scoring
leader Connor McDavid
(Pacific) andNashville de-
fenseman P.K. Subban
(Central). Each team will
have six forwards, three de-
fensemen andtwo goalies.
Many familiar names
wereannouncedTuesday,
including Crosby, who leads
the NHL with 26goals, and
teammate Evgeni Malkin;
Chicago Blackhawks center
JonathanToews, who’s hav-
ing a subpar seasonbut will
join teammates Patrick
Kane, Corey Crawford and
DuncanKeith; Washington
Capitals forward Alex
Ovechkin, who has 999 ca-
reer points, andMontreal
defenseman Shea Weber,
chosen for his sixth All-Star
game.
Other selections re-
flected the NHL’s youthmovement. Notable were
Edmonton’s McDavid, who
will be 20 o n Friday, 18-year-
old rookie PatrikLaine of
Winnipeg, who scored 21
goals before being sidelined
by a concussion, defense-
man SethJones,22, of t he
league-leading Columbus
BlueJackets, and19-year-
old forward Auston
Matthews of theToronto
Maple Leafs. He shares the
rookie lead ingoals with
Laine and is second in
points amongrookies with
35.
Because all 30 teams
mustbe represented, some
worthy players were
snubbed. Goalie Peter Bu-
daj, who has saved the
Kings’ season sinceJona-
than Quick was injured,
would have beena good
pick, but the Pacificgoalie
spotswent to a deserving
Martin Jones of SanJose
and to Mike Smith,the Ari-
zona Coyotes’ lone selec-
tion.
Nor was there room for
Columbus forward Cam
Atkinson, whoreached the20-goal mark Tuesday, or
prolificBlackhawksforward
Artemi Panarin.
But Doughty, Carter,
Kesler and Fowler were
strongchoices.Kesler , espe-
cially,hasexcelledincollect-
ing 16 goals and35 points in
43 games and hascombined
withAndrew Coglianoand
Jakob Silfverberg to form a
formidabletwo-way line.
Kesler, 32, considers his
play vindication of the
much-questioned six-year,
$41.25-millioncontractthe
Ducks gave him in July of
2015.
“That gets megoing,” he
said. “Ever sinceI signed
that contract, I want to
prove people wrong.You try
not to hear it butyou hear
what people say, and I think
that motivates me every
yearto comebackandprove
that I’m not quote-unquote
over the hill.”[email protected]
Twitter: @helenenothelen
Timescorrespondent
CurtisZupke contributedto
this report.Ducks’ Fowler comes full circle
[All-Stars,fromD1]
All-Star rosters for the three-on-three divisiontournament to be held
at Staples Center on Jan.29:Atlantic Division
COACH:MichelTherrien, Montreal.FORWARDS:Nikita Kucherov,
Ta mpa Bay; Brad Marchand, Boston; Auston Matthews, To ronto;
FransNielsen, Detroit; Kyle Okposo, Buffalo;Vincent Trocheck,Flor-
ida.DEFENSEMEN:Victor Hedman, Ta mpa Bay; ErikKarlsson, Ot-
tawa; Shea Weber, Montreal.GOALIES:captain-Carey Price, Mon-
treal; Tu ukka Rask, Boston.Metropolitan Division
COACH:JohnTo rtorella, Columbus.FORWARDS:captain-Sidney
Crosby, Pittsburgh; Ta ylor Hall,New Jersey;EvgeniMalkin,Pitts-
burgh; Alex Ovechkin,Washington;Wayne Simmonds, Philadelphia;
JohnTa vares, N.Y. Islanders.DEFENSEMEN:JustinFa ulk, Carolina;
Seth Jones, Columbus; Ryan McDonagh, N.Y. Rangers.GOALIES:
Sergei Bobrovsky, Columbus; Braden Holtby, Washington.Central Division
COACH:Bruce Boudreau, Minnesota.FORWARDS:Patrick Kane,
Chicago;Patrik Laine, Winnipeg; Nathan MacKinnon, Colorado;Ty ler
Seguin, Dallas;VladimirTa rasenko, St.Louis; JonathanTo ews, Chi-
cago.DEFENSEMEN:Duncan Keith, Chicago;captain-P.K. Subban,
Nashville; Ryan Suter, Minnesota.GOALIES:CoreyCrawford, Chi-
cago; Devan Dubnyk, Minnesota.Pacific Division
COACH:Peter DeBoer,San Jose.FORWARDS:Jeff Carter, KINGS;
Johnny Gaudreau,Calgary; Bo Horvat, Vancouver;RyanKesler,
DUCKS;captain-Connor McDavid, Edmonton; JoePavelski, San Jo-
se.DEFENSEMEN:Brent Burns, San Jose; DrewDoughty, KINGS;
Cam Fowler, DUCKS.GOALIES:Martin Jones, San Jose; Mike Smith,
Arizona.NHL ALL-STARROSTERS
DUCKS2,STARS0
Dallas......................................0 00 —0
DUCKS....................................0 11 —2
FIRST PERIOD: Scoring—None.Penalty—Shore,DAL,
(tripping),17:27.
SECOND PERIOD:1. DUCKS, Silfverberg12 (Vatanen,
Perry), 14:33 (pp).Penalties—Kesler, DUCKS, (holding
stick), 4:39. Eakin,DAL, (hooking), 8:38. Kesler,
DUCKS, (interference),11:01. Klingberg,DAL, (high
sticking),14:08. Korpikoski,DAL, (interference),18:46.
THIRD PERIOD: 2. DUCKS, Cogliano10 (Manson, Sil-
fverberg),14:42.Penalty—Bieksa, DUCKS, (high
sticking),18:33.
SHOTS ON GOAL: Dal.12-6-16—34. DUCKS13-1 6-
9—38.Power-play conversions—Dal. 0 of 3. DUCKS1 of
4.
GOALIES: Dal., Niemi 8-7-4 (38 shots-36 saves).
DUCKS, Gibson16-10-7 (34-34). Att—15,073
(17,174). T—2:29.GOALS
Crosby, PIT............... 26
Carter, KINGS .......... 22
Laine, WPG............... 21
Matthews, TOR ......... 21
2tied at ..................... 20
POINTS
McDavis, EDM......... 48
Kane, CHI................. 45
Crosby, PIT............... 44
Ta rasenko, STL ........ 43
Malkin, PIT............... 43GAA
Dubnyk, MIN.........1.80
Holtby, WAS ...........1.90
Howard, DET.........1.96
Rask,BOS ..............1.97
Bobrovsky, COL ...2.00NHL LEADERS