2030 expansion to 64 teams revealed by president Gianni Infantino

The expansion of the 2026 FIFA World Cup to 48 teams hasn’t been without its detractors.

But FIFA aren’t done with their plans to open the prestige event to even more nations as early as 2030, with FIFA president Gianni Infantino confirming discussions to increase the next World Cup to 64 teams are underway.

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The proposal comes one tournament on from jumping from 32 teams to 48, with Infantino citing a desire to increase football’s appeal beyond the heartlands of Europe and South America.

“This is certainly an issue that will be looked at and discussed in the relevant committees after this World Cup,” Infantino said about the proposition in an interview with Swiss broadcaster Blue Sport.

“When you organise a World Cup, it’s important that you organise it for the whole world. It’s not just Europe and South America, but the entire world, effectively. Every nation should be able to dream of taking part in the World Cup.

“We can see that the quality of the teams is extremely high, and it’s getting higher and higher everywhere in the world. If you don’t give smaller countries the chance to participate in the World Cup, they also lose the incentive to keep improving.”

The 2030 World Cup, which will be held in Morocco, Portugal and Spain, will mark the tournament’s 100th anniversary.

It will also see the first three matches played in Uruguay, Argentina and Paraguay to mark the centenary.

In contrast to current plans, the 1930 tournament, which was won by Uruguay, featured just 13 teams.

The 64-team expansion was first suggested in early 2025, when CONMEBOL president Alejandro Domínguez led a consortium of South American football and political delegates, including the presidents of Paraguay and Uruguay, in meeting with Infantino in New York.

“When football is shared by everyone, the celebration is truly global,” Domínguez said.

The current 48-team event was met with resistance, amid fears that opening the tournament to more nations could lead to an increase in uncompetitive matches.

However, Cabo Verde defied such fears by reaching the round of 32 and performing admirably in a 2-3 defeat to Lionel Messi’s Argentina.

Infantino himself described the expansion as a ‘huge success’.

“Every team played ⁠⁠at a high level. Teams from every continent scored goals and earned at least one point,” he said.

“Nine out ⁠⁠of ten African teams reached the knockout stage. ⁠⁠At the last World Cup, there were only five teams from Africa.

“That just goes to show how important it is to include all teams – to give them this opportunity to participate.”

A 64-team tournament would feature 128 matches - double the 2022 tournament, which involved only 32 nations.

It has been suggested that a 64-team 2030 World Cup could lead to an increase in matches played in Uruguay, Argentina and Paraguay.

Originally slated to host only one match each, the three countries could host four teams in an expanded group stage should plans to swell the event come to fruition.

However, the proposal has been met with resistance, with Asian Football Confederation president Sheikh Salman bin Ibrahim Al-Khalifa saying in 2025 that the plans would risk a slippery slope.

“If the issue remains open to change, then the door will not only be open to expanding the tournament to 64 teams,” he said.

“But someone might come along and demand raising the number to 132 teams.

“Where would we end up then? It would become chaos.”

UEFA president Aleksander Čeferin has also described expansion as a ‘bad idea’.

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