Amid troubled WCup sales, FIFA set to hit $5.66B target

MOSCOW (AP) — Even taking a financial hit from Italy and the United States failing to qualify, FIFA's top salesman insists the 2018 World Cup will make its income target.

Italy's loss in the playoffs wiped tens of millions of dollars off the value of an unsold broadcasting deal. One of FIFA's most valuable markets is typically worth $200 million per World Cup.

The surprise U.S. elimination — as Panama qualified — affects finding four North American sponsors in a new, and stalled, regional sales program. Just one of 20 slots has sold worldwide, to an oligarch-owned bank in host nation Russia.

"Everybody is annoyed with the non-qualification of the U.S.