World football governing body, FIFA, has shelved its plans to expand the 2022 World Cup in Qatar to 48 teams.
The football body has decided to stick with 32 countries because of the political and logistical problems of using another Gulf nation.
The moves means the World Cup will not be expanded until 2026, with FIFA already having approved a format with 48 teams for that tournament in North American cities United States, Canada and Mexico.
A meeting of the FIFA Council in March authorised FIFA president, Infantino, to work with Qatar on seeing if it was feasible to use at least one more country in the region to accommodate 16 more matches and present a proposal at meetings in June.
The regional diplomatic crisis in the Middle East left Kuwait and Oman as the viable options with both nations unable or unwilling to host the showpiece.
