FIFA would have considered the idea of a single World Cup of 64 teams in 2030 to commemorate the centenary of the tournament, which would mark the second consecutive expansion of the tournament.
The idea was introduced towards the end of a recent FIFA meeting by Ignacio Alonso, a delegate of Uruguay who read a speech prepared in English, by the New York Times. While other people present in the virtual meeting were shocked by the proposal, the president of FIFA, Gianni Infantino, has been interested and said that the idea should be studied in more detail.
Alonso’s proposal should encounter resistance, as is the previous presentation of the FIFA World Cup every two years rather than its current calendar of every four years. A committee was trained to explore this idea, but after a year, their work was quietly completed.
A World Cup of 64 teams – in particular one in a little notice – should face logistics battles, especially during a tournament which will already be conventional from this point of view. FIFA has attributed accommodation rights to the 2030 edition to six countries on three continents – Argentina, Paraguay, Uruguay, Spain, Portugal and Morocco. There are also questions surrounding the quality of a competition of 64 teams, as it would include more than a quarter of FIFA member countries and could consider certain World Cup qualification competitions for the most part.
Infantino expansion plans
The male World Cup was a competition of 32 teams from 1998 until the last iteration in 2022. Infantino was not the first person to suggest extending the World Cup to 48 teams, but it transformed the idea into reality even if it was an unpopular idea both from the logistical and competition.
The 2026 World Cup, cohossaged by the United States, Mexico and Canada, will be the first to welcome 48 teams. The competition will last 39 days, nine days more than a tournament of 32 teams, and will also see 104 games played, against 64.
Several other competitions have developed under the direction of Infantino. The Women’s World Cup went from a competition of 16 teams in 2011 at the reception of 24 teams in 2015 and 2019 before extending to 32 in 2023. Infantino also redesigned the male club World Cup from an annual competition of eight teams to a quadrienne tournament with 32 teams. Certain extensions have been more popular than others – while changes to the Women’s World Cup have been considered a necessary step to align with the rapid growth of women’s football, the club World Cup is considered a burden for players who are already dealing with the consequences of congestion.
