FIFA President Gianni Infantino is set to explore a significant expansion of the World Cup to a 64-team format for the 2030 edition, aiming to boost global football participation and quality.
Key Points
- FIFA President Gianni Infantino is exploring a 64-team World Cup format for the 2030 edition.
- The World Cup is already expanding from 32 to 48 teams for the 2026 tournament in North America.
- Infantino believes expansion encourages smaller nations and improves global football quality.
- Discussions on the 64-team format will occur after this summer's tournament.
FIFA president Gianni Infantino has revealed that the governing body will explore the possibility of expanding the FIFA World Cup to a 64-team tournament for the 2030 edition.
The World Cup is already set to undergo a major expansion in 2026, with the tournament increasing from 32 to 48 teams for the finals hosted by the United States, Canada, and Mexico. The 32-team format had been in place from 1998 through the 2022 World Cup.
Why FIFA Is Considering Further Expansion
Infantino, the president of world football's governing body, confirmed talks would take place over the proposed format after this summer's tournament.
"It (a 64-team tournament) is definitely an issue that will be examined and discussed in the relevant committees after this World Cup," Infantino said in an interview with Swiss media outlet Bluewin as per The Athletic.
"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," he added.
The 56-year-old FIFA president also described the expansion of the World Cup to 48 teams as "100 per cent a success", highlighting the positive response to the larger format ahead of its introduction at the upcoming edition.
The Multi-Continent 2030 World Cup
The 2030 World Cup will be a historic multi-continent tournament, with matches scheduled across six nations spanning three continents. Uruguay, the host of the inaugural 1930 World Cup, along with 2022 champions Argentina and Paraguay, are set to stage one opening match each. The remainder of the tournament's fixtures -- 101 matches in the 48-team format -- will be shared between Morocco, Portugal, and Spain.
In September 2025, FIFA discussions began on the possibility of expanding the tournament further for 2030 after the governing body received a formal proposal from a delegation of influential South American leaders.
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Source: Rediff.com
