Fifa to consider expanding 2030 World Cup to 64 teams

Independent

07-03-2025

Fifa will consider expanding the World Cup in 2030 to a 64-team tournament, following a proposal made at a meeting of the governing body on Wednesday.
The New York Times reports that Ignacio Alonso, the president of the Uruguayan Football Association, made the proposal at the end of a Fifa council meeting.
Fifa president Gianni Infantino was reportedly interested in the idea.
A Fifa spokesperson told The Guardian, 'A proposal to analyse a 64-team Fifa World Cup to celebrate the centenary of the Fifa World Cup in 2030 was spontaneously raised by a Fifa council member in the 'miscellaneous' agenda item near the end of the Fifa council meeting held on 5 March 2025.
'The idea was ­acknowledged as Fifa has a duty to analyse any proposal from one of its council members.'
The World Cup will already expand once this decade, from 32 teams to 48 at next year's edition, held in Mexico, Canada and the US. The 2026 tournament will feature 104 matches, up from the current 64.
Infantino has made tinkering with the World Cup something of a hallmark of his presidency, although a proposed change from the tournament taking place every four years to every two was shelved due to widespread outcry. Earlier this week, Infantino announced that next year's edition will involve a Super Bowl-style half-time show, in another break with tradition.
Expanding what some say has already become a bloated and unwieldy competition to 64 teams would involve more than a quarter of Fifa's 211 member associations, and present further logistical challenges to the six host countries in 2030. The 2030 tournament, the centenary of the first World Cup, will be spread across three continents, raising concerns over the environmental impact of the event.