FIFA President Considers Expanding 2030 World Cup to 64 Teams

New York. FIFA President Gianni Infantino has said that FIFA will study the possibility of expanding the 2030 FIFA World Cup to include 16 more teams, making the tournament a 64-team event.

In an interview with Swiss media outlet Bluewin, Infantino said that the proposal to increase the number of teams from the current 48 to 64 could be meaningful. He said, 'After this World Cup concludes, this subject will definitely be studied and discussed in the relevant committees.'

According to Infantino, when hosting the World Cup, not only Europe and South America, but the entire world should be taken into consideration. He added, 'When hosting the World Cup, it is important to host it for the entire world. Every nation should get a chance to dream of playing in the World Cup. The level of teams worldwide has become very high and is continuously improving. If small nations are not given the opportunity to participate in the World Cup, they may lose the motivation to improve further.'

From 1998 to 2022, 32 teams participated in the World Cup. The current 2026 edition is being organized with 48 teams for the first time. Currently, only four teams remain in this competition: Argentina, England, France, and Spain. Only two semi-finals, the third-place match, and the final match are left in this 104-game tournament being hosted in Canada, Mexico, and the United States.

Infantino has called this 48-team World Cup a 'huge success.' He said, 'Every team performed at a high level. Teams from all continents scored and won at least one point. 9 out of 10 African teams reached the knockout stage.' Reminding that only five teams from Africa participated in the previous World Cup, he said that this clearly shows how important it is to give opportunities to all teams.

The 2030 World Cup will be hosted across multiple continents for the first time in history. The first three matches of the tournament are scheduled to be held in Uruguay, Argentina, and Paraguay, respectively. The remaining matches will be hosted in Morocco, Portugal, and Spain. If this tournament is expanded to 64 teams, it is possible that those three South American nations will not only host one match each but will be able to host all the matches of a four-team group.