Japan and Morocco face old order giants in the hope of a brave new world | Jonathan Wilson

T he World Cup exists in a state of perpetual flux. It goes to new territories. It gets bigger. It experiments with second group phases and replaces playoffs for sides level on points with goal difference then head-to-head. And still one of the same eight countries from western Europe or South America wins it. Since Argentina in 1978, there have been two new winners, and those were France and Spain, from the heart of Uefa, their success based on maximising the advantages of being European and wealthy; no countries have been so successful at industrialising youth production, so much so that they now provide the models for every country seeking to invest in academy programmes. Yet it feels that the old world has never been so at odds with the game’s leadership. Gianni Infantino portrays himself as a champion of the global south and, just like his two predecessors as Fifa president, Sepp Blatter and João Havelange, it is voters from Africa, Asia and Latin America who sustain him in power. The horrendous treatment of migrant workers in Qatar and that fans, journalists, team officials and even a referee have been denied entry to the USA and Canada make no impact on Infantino’s popularity; the delegates have their salaries and expenses, their committee posts and stipends, and none are going to rock the boat. …