(Football news) With talks of a biennial World Cup being at the top of FIFA’s agenda, French striker Kylian Mbappe and Poland’s Robert Lewandowski have expressed their concerns over holding the prestigious tournament every two years and the toll it will take on the players’ physical and mental health. FIFA has been investigating the idea of staging a biennial World Cup for both men and women following a proposal led by Arsene Wenger and the concept has been deeply divisive with UEFA and CONMEBOL opposing the plans, while CAF, the African governing body giving it’s backing.

Speaking at the Globe Soccer Awards Ceremony, Mbappe said “The World Cup is the World Cup, it's a special thing because it's something [held] every four years. [It is] the best thing, the best competition in the world. If you hold it every two years, it can start to be normal to play [in the] World Cup. I want to say that's not normal. That [should be] something amazing. We play over 60 games in a year. You have Euros, the World Cup, now the Nations League – so many competitions. We are happy to play but when it's too much, it's too much. We have to recover, we have to stay relaxed.If people want to see quality in the game, the emotion, to see what makes the beauty of football, I think we have to respect the health of players."

Bayern Munich striker Robert Lewandowski also echoed Mbappe’s sentiments at the Globe Soccer Awards Ceremony. The 33 year old said “We have so many games every year, so many tough weeks, not only the games but preparation for the season, preparation for the big tournaments. If you want to offer something special, something different, we also need a break. If we have a World Cup every two years, the expectation is the time where footballers play at a high level will go down … It is physically and mentally impossible.”

Last week, FIFA had claimed that hosting a World Cup every two years would generate an additional £3.3 billion revenue every four years which would further be distributed amongst member associations for the growth of the sport, especially in underdeveloped countries. The next World Cup, set to be hosted in Qatar has been the most controversial in recent memory as it will be the first tournament of its kind to be held during the winter months, which would mean domestic club football will be paused to accommodate the tournament in November and December. The tournament is also set to expand to 48 teams from 2026 onwards as FIFA looks to involve more countries in the biggest football tournament in the world.

Also read: Biennial World Cup to generate over £3 billion revenue says FIFA