FIFA to decide on expanding World Cup to 64 teams as ‘leaked’ documents emerge | Football | Sport
FIFA will make a decision on expanding the World Cup to 64 teams next month, as per reports. The World Cup was expanded from 32 to 48 teams for the 2026 edition, but there has already been talk about going up to 64 teams in four years time.
Spain, Morocco and Portugal are the main hosts for the 2030 tournament, with Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay hosting one-off matches as part of the centenary celebrations. FIFA president Gianni Infantino has overseen plenty of changes since taking office in 2016, and it looks as if another major one is being considered.
According to reports, FIFA are accelerating plans to introduce a 64-team format, with a leaked document showing the governing body is planning to begin a consultation process. After that, a FIFA decision will be made, with details surrounding that expected by August 14.
It’s unclear exactly how the format would work yet, but it’s likely an extra four groups of four teams will be added to the initial stage of the competition. After that, the top two teams would progress into the round-of-32, which would eliminate the controversial use of best-third place finishers we saw in the 2026 edition.
Infantino had flirted with the idea, telling Swiss broadcaster Blue Sport: “These are all issues that we will be examining after the World Cup. 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.”
There appears to be pressure behind the scenes regarding a 64-team tournament, with Alejandro Dominguez, president of the South American FA, having said earlier this week: “We are working to ensure that the 2030 World Cup is held with 64 national teams in homage to the Centenary of the World Cup.
“International football grows when it opens up to the world. The expansion to 48 teams demonstrated that greater participation generates more opportunities, boosts the development of football, and turns the World Cup into a true global celebration. The Centenary offers us a historic opportunity to Dream Big. May the World Cup be the greatest celebration that football has ever known.”
