“Firstly it’s all about transparency,” Cahill said.

“I feel now after the presentation,with the transparency of what Arsene Wenger[and] FIFA have put together,thinking about the future,when you have 166 countries asking for the feasibility[study],it’s really important that everyone can do their due diligence and add some context.”

Cahill said he felt the changes would ease the physical burden on players by reducing cross-continental travel,and that the money raised by the extra tournaments could be spent on improving developing football countries.

“I’m Australian,I played in four World Cups ... three of those[we qualified through] Asia. It’s really,really difficult,” he said.

“If you can take into consideration a national team being together for a month,being able to train,be with fans,play games,prepare properly,qualify. It takes Australia three years to qualify for a World Cup whereas in Europe it takes one year.

“There’s so many aspects that needs more context,more information. We need to digest it and the nice thing here is having an open conversation.”

Cahill now works in Qatar,where he is the chief sports officer at the Aspire Sports Academy. His close ties to the oil-rich state have rankled some Australian fans,who criticised him last year for becoming an official ambassador for the Qatar 2022 World Cup due to the human rights abuses connected to stadium construction.

He,Ronaldo and Schmeichel are part of FIFA’s Legends program,which makes them official ambassadors of the world governing body and obvious public faces for their current “consultation” process.

Asked if there were any dissenters within the group of ex-players in Doha who didn’t like FIFA’s biennial World Cup plans,Danish legend Schmeichel said:“I don’t think anyone disagreed on the frequency of the World Cup. Every two years,I think everyone was on board with that.”

“I come from a small country,five million people. We haven’t got any guarantees of qualifying in a tough environment in Europe for the World Cups that at the moment are every four years. I played for my national team for 14 years but only managed to qualify for one World Cup,and would certainly jump at the chance to qualify every two years.”

Ronaldo dismissed arguments that playing the World Cup more often would make it less prestigious,saying that was not the case for annual events like the UEFA Champions League and tennis’ four grand slam tournaments.

But the most obvious benefit for FIFA was not discussed at all:the financial element. The World Cup is FIFA’s chief money-spinner and,by having twice as many of them,they would hope to not only double their revenue but do so at the expense of their institutional rivals like UEFA.

Football Australia has refused to confirm if it was among the 166 nations that voted in favour of a feasibility study into the change and is said to be waiting on more information before forming a public view. Only four minnow countries from Asia have outed themselves so far. But FA would stand to benefit from more frequent World Cups,particularly as they prepare to enter the race to host the men’s event in 2034.

“Overall,I think I have got a very positive response,but this decision is a democratic decision and will be made certainly by the 211 countries who are affiliated to FIFA. I think that we continue to consult people,” Wenger said.

“I’m 100 per cent convinced that what I propose is the right solution for the modern way to organise football. If people have better ideas,I’m open to it and I welcome every idea that is better than mine.”

A decision will be made in December by FIFA’s congress,with any approved changes to take effect from 2028 onwards.

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