FIFA president Gianni Infantino said he was feeling sad that African teams couldn't make to the 2018 World Cup knock-out stages, reports BBC on Wednesday. «The World Cup is for the whole world and the African teams were very, very close at the end», replied Infantino when asked about what he felt when the continent left the international Tournament earlier than expected. «An Asian (team) made it - an African not - but I think they will be ready soon for the next one», he told the BBC. Indeed, none of the African teams participating to the World Cup, held currently in Russia, has managed to qualify for the round of 16. Morocco, Tunisia, Egypt, Nigeria and Senegal were kicked out of the competition in the first round. The Atlas Lions were defeated twice, scoring one point in front of squads in Group B that included Portugal, Spain and Iran. The eight team that made it to the World Cup quarter-finals are from Europe, Latin America and EuroAsia (Russia). Because of the Video Assistant Referee (VAR), FIFA faced a wave of criticism after fans claimed that referees used the technology to help «big teams win». The hashtag «VAR is Bull****» went viral denouncing the fact that VAR validated a goal scored by Spain against Morocco.
