World football's governing body said in a statement that "following a thorough and comprehensive consultation process with the involvement of all the relevant stakeholders, it was concluded that under the current circumstances such a proposal could not be made now".

"(The tournament) will therefore remain as originally planned with 32 teams and no proposal will be submitted at the next FIFA Congress on 5 June," FIFA added.

The statement said that the study "concluded that due to the advanced stage of preparations and the need for a detailed assessment of the potential logistical impact on the host country, more time would be required and a decision could not be taken before the deadline of June."

The 2-0 victory over Real Sociedad in the final round of La Liga means Espanyol jumped two spots to seventh in the standings on 53 points - returning to European action after more than a decade.

Wu Lei’s 65-minute strike following Roberto Rosales’ opener seven minutes earlier, was his third goal for Espanyol in 16 appearances and the forward received a standing ovation from the home crowd after coming off in the 80th minute.

The ground, designed by late British-Iraqi architect Zaha Hadid and located in a coastal town south of Doha, erupted into cheers as Amir Cup finalists Al Sadd and Al Duhail ran onto the pitch.

Amir of Qatar His Highness Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani tweeted on his verified account ahead of kick-off that the ground's name would be changed to "Al Janoub Stadium" meaning "stadium of the south".

Also in attendance was FIFA President Gianni Infantino and former stars like Ruud Gullit of the Netherlands, Brazilian Roberto Carlos and Samuel Eto'o of Cameroon.

The Croatian will be taking over from Stephen Constantine who stepped down as India's head coach after their AFC Asian Cup UAE 2019 exit.

Albert Roca of Spain, Hakan Ericson of Sweden and Lee Min-sung of Korea Republic were also in the fray for the position, but Stimac pipped them to the post.

Courtesy of his time with Bengaluru FC, who were the winners of the Indian Super League in 2019, Roca was earlier considered one of the top contenders for the job.

The tournament, which saw its first edition in 2018, will see India start as the defending champions - having defeated Kenya in the final. The other two teams in the tournament in 2018 were Chinese Taipei and New Zealand.

AIFF General Secretary Kushal Das underlined the importance of the tournament by calling it an ‘acid test’ for the Indian team ahead of the 2022 FIFA World Cup Qatar Qualifiers which are slated to begin in September.

The Dutchman is a former head coach for Singapore’s U-19 side that competed in the AFF U-19 Championship Indonesia 2018 last July, and was also part of Bert van Marwijk’s staff heading into the 2018 FIFA World Cup Russia as a scout.

QFA President HE Hamad bin Khalifa bin Ahmad Al Thani extended the Spaniard's contract until 2022 to continue the technical stability of the national team, who will host the 2022 FIFA World Cup.