MEXICO CITY, June 10 (Xinhua) -- FIFA President Gianni Infantino said Wednesday that the FIFA World Cup would serve as a global celebration of football as the tournament prepared to kick off across the United States, Mexico and Canada.
Speaking on the eve of the opening match between Mexico and South Africa at Mexico City's Azteca Stadium, Infantino described the tournament as "a moment of joy, a moment of celebration, a moment of happiness", urging attention to remain on the pitch.
"If you want to criticize me, criticize me. It's fine, it's okay," Infantino told reporters. "But promote the unity of the World Cup, promote people coming to the World Cup, feeling those emotions that all of you have been feeling when you were children and I hope you can still feel them now because we want to unite the world."
Infantino said the expanded tournament was already breaking records before a ball had been kicked.
He noted that more than six million tickets had been sold and that 17,000 media representatives were accredited across the tournament's 16 host cities.
The competition will feature 48 teams and 104 matches, with a global audience of six billion people expected to tune in on television.
"We want to host the biggest, the best, the greatest, the most inclusive World Cup in the history of FIFA," Infantino said.
He added that supporters remained at the heart of the tournament, pointing out that the World Cup's reach extended far beyond the stadiums.
"The fans make the World Cup, of course, what it is," he said. "There will be many more millions in the fan zones, fan fests, watch parties, not just in the three host countries but everywhere in the world."
Infantino also pointed to the participation of Iran as an example of football's ability to bring nations together despite challenges.
"When people were saying, well, it would be impossible for Iran to come to the World Cup, I told them and I promised them that they would come," he said.
"If I had to go with a bus to Tehran and drive them here, I would do that. I'm very happy that we managed to get Iran to come and play in this World Cup."
The Swiss official also announced that FIFA had reached a memorandum of understanding with FIFPRO, the global players' union, as part of efforts to align more closely with governing bodies, clubs, leagues and players.
"This is good news. It's about unity, about bringing everyone together," he said.
Finally, Infantino said the World Cup offered people around the world an opportunity to jointly experience the raw emotion of football.
"All these people, they want to enjoy a moment of happiness, a moment where their day-to-day problems can be left aside and they can just enjoy the game," he said.
"They can just enjoy the game and cry if their team loses or cry if their team wins. Just feel this emotion in community with others."
The World Cup begins on Thursday and concludes on July 19. Enditem
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