Gianni Infantino has confirmed FIFA will study expanding the World Cup to 64 teams for 2030. Sixteen more nations, 128 matches, and a centenary edition already spread across six countries and three continents, the biggest tournament in football could be about to get bigger still.
With two semifinals and a final left of the 104-match World Cup in the United States, Canada and Mexico, the FIFA president put further expansion back on the table. "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."
If this chance is denied for smaller countries, Gianni Infantino said, and "they'll lack the incentive to keep improving."
The president called the 48-team format a "huge success" and reached for Africa as proof. "Nine out of 10 African teams reached the knockout stage. At the last World Cup, there were only five teams from Africa."
CONMEBOL, the football governing body from South America, pitched this idea in March last year. A one-off 64-team edition to mark 100 years since Uruguay hosted the first World Cup in 1930. Confederation president Alejandro Domínguez has called it his dream. "We believe in a historic 2030 World Cup," he said last September, after meeting Infantino in New York alongside the presidents of Uruguay and Paraguay. "When football is shared by everyone, the celebration is truly global."
There is self-interest in the romance. The 2030 tournament is already split across three continents: Spain, Portugal and Morocco stage the bulk of it, while Uruguay, Argentina and Paraguay each host a single centenary match. A 64-team format could hand each South American host a full four-team group instead of one single game.
Europe's governing body wants none of it. UEFA president Aleksander Čeferin has dismissed the plan as "a bad idea", warning about what it would do to the tournament's prestige and to European qualifying, which could turn into a near formality.
Concacaf president Victor Montagliani was blunter still last year when asked about the World Cup expansion: "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."
At 64 teams, almost a third of FIFA's 211 members would qualify, and a 128-match tournament would place fresh demands on an already crowded calendar.
For now, FIFA will only study this option. Any change would need approval through decision-making bodies well before 2030 qualifying begins.
