FIFA president Gianni Infantino says the governing body will examine a proposal to expand the World Cup to 64 teams for the 2030 tournament, an idea that has already drawn objections from UEFA and others
FIFA President Gianni Infantino has proposed expanding the 2030 FIFA World Cup from 48 to 64 teams as he believes “every nation should be allowed to dream of participating in the World Cup”.
The current 2026 World Cup’s is the first edition of the tournament with 48 teams, which Infantino believes has been a “huge success”. The 2030 World Cup is to be held in Morocco, Portugal and Spain, while Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay are expected to play their first games at home to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the World Cup.
Infantino told Swiss broadcaster, Blue Sport, recently: “When organising a World Cup, it’s important to organise it for the whole world – not just Europe and South America, but effectively the entire world. Every nation should be allowed to dream of participating in the World Cup.
“You can see that the quality of the teams is extremely high, and it’s getting higher and higher, all over the world. If you don’t give smaller countries a chance to participate in the World Cup, they’ll lack the incentive to keep improving.”
FIFA Delegate Ignacio Alonso, President of the Uruguayan Football Association, first proposed the 64-team format as a ‘one-off’ in celebration of the 100th anniversary of the World Cup.
This was then supported by CONMEBOL President, Alejandro Dominguez, during a FIFA meeting. He believed this would “allow all countries to have the opportunity live the world cup experience”.
While Infantino and FIFA analysed the proposal, other council members then swiftly shared their beliefs.
UEFA President, Alexander Ceferin, was one of the more high-profile critics, believing the expansion to 64-teams was “not a good idea” and affirmed he was not supporting it.
Those who also expressed their disapproval over the proposal were AFC President, Sheikh Salman bin Ibrahim, as well as CONCACAF President, Victor Montagliani, who stated last year: “I don’t believe expanding the men’s World Cup to 64 teams is the right move for the tournament itself and the broader football ecosystem, from national teams to club competitions, leagues, and players.”
The Pros for a 64-team World Cup
Expanding the World Cup to 64 teams would bring more monetary value to FIFA’s global broadcasting rights as the total amount of games would increase to up to 128 games.
FIFA has already accumulated a record $4.26bn from broadcast revenue during the 2023-2026 rights cycle. The addition of up to 24 more games would help drive demand in countries which are either qualifying for the first time, or have not qualified in several years/decades.
The expansion would also mean more opportunities for countries to develop their footballing infrastructure, particularly in underdeveloped nations. Infantino’s case for the 2026 World Cup being a “huge success” could, in part, be attributed to the surprise performance of Cabo Verde.
The country, which has a population of just over 500,000 people, competed in its first-ever World Cup Finals, being eliminated at the Round of 32 knockout stage after an extra-time defeat to reigning champions Argentina 3-2.
The fairytale run to the knockout stage earned Cabo Verde $13.5m in prize money and provided vital monetary support to develop its grassroots game and infrastructure.
The Cons for a 64-team World Cup
FIFA has only just introduced a 48-team World Cup and now proposing another expansion to 64 teams has already generated criticism.
This cause for concern is exacerbated when FIFA’s monetary gain is questioned, which was initially scrutinised when it reformed the FIFA Club World Cup to a 32-team from an eight-team competition in 2025.
Several players and coaches, including the global player’s union FIFPro, have criticised FIFA’s approach to player welfare in recent years by continuing to add international fixtures to a footballing schedule that continues to increase with games.
There are also more infrastructural logistics to navigate for host World Cup countries. While there may be a total of 20 countries for the 2030 World Cup in Morocco (six), Portugal (three), and Spain (11), other host countries may not be afforded the time and resources to accommodate 64 countries.
Saudi Arabia is set to host the 2034 World Cup and while construction has begun on 10 new stadiums for the competition, the Kingdom has only selected five host cities to accommodate national teams.
