2030 World Cup: South America calls for expanded 64-team tournament
Alejandro Dominguez, the president of South American soccer's ruling body CONMEBOL, wants the 2030 men's World Cup to be temporarily expanded to 64 teams.
The idea was first proposed by Uruguayan football official Ignacio Alonso at a FIFA Council meeting last month, before UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin dismissed the proposal as a 'bad idea'.
Advertisement
The 2030 World Cup will be the tournament's centenary edition, with the first competition having been held in Uruguay in 1930.
1930 hosts Uruguay, 2022 winners Argentina and Paraguay — the home of CONMEBOL's offices — are currently scheduled to host one match each at the start of the 2030 tournament, with the remaining 101 games in the 48-team tournament split between Morocco, Portugal and Spain.
'We are convinced that the centennial celebration will be unique, because 100 years only happen once,' Dominguez said at the CONMEBOL Congress on Thursday.
'And that's why we are proposing, for the only time, to hold this anniversary with 64 teams, on three continents simultaneously. So that all countries have the opportunity to live a global experience, and so that no one on this planet is left out of this celebration which, even though it's played everywhere, is our party.'
FIFA told the New York Times in March that the 64-team proposal 'was spontaneously raised by a FIFA Council member in the 'miscellaneous' agenda item near the end' of their meeting.
The 2026 World Cup, to be held across the United States, Mexico and Canada, will be the first 48-team edition of the tournament, an increase from the 32-team format than ran from 1998 to 2022.
Seven of CONMEBOL's 10 nations are guaranteed spots in a 48-team tournament, with 16 spaces available for UEFA's 55 member nations.
Last month, European football's governing body's president Ceferin said of the idea of a 64-team competition: 'I think it's a bad idea — it's not a good idea for the World Cup itself and it's not a good idea for our qualifiers as well.'
(YUKI IWAMURA/AFP via Getty Images)
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
14 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Pochettino plays down Spurs return rumors
United States head coach Mauricio Pochettino has distanced himself from talk of a return to Tottenham Hotspur (Joe Buglewicz) USA head coach Mauricio Pochettino has played down rumors linking him with the vacant managerial position at his former club Tottenham Hotspur, following the sacking of Ange Postecoglou on Friday. Argentine Pochettino was in charge of Spurs for five years from 2014 and took the team to the Champions League final but never won a trophy with the North London club. Advertisement Despite having signed a two year contract in September to lead the USA at the 2026 World Cup, which they are co-hosting with Canada and Mexico, Pochettino's name has appeared in bookmakers' lists of favorites for the Spurs job and in several UK reports. But asked on Saturday about the links, in his post-match press conference following the USA's 2-1 home friendly defeat to Turkey, Pochettino played down the talk. "After I left in 2019, every time that I was free, and the place of the position of the manager or head coach in Tottenham Hotspur (was vacant), my name is appearing on the list," Pochettino said. "If you have seen the rumors, I think there are 100 coaches in the list. I think, don't be worried about that," he added. Advertisement Pochettino has talked in the past about his remaining affection for Spurs and has never ruled out the possibility of returning to the club at some point. But he suggested the timing was not right for a second chance with his old team. "If something happened, you for sure you will see, but we cannot talk about this type of thing, because I think today, it's not real. It's not realistic. And look at where I am, where we are," he said in the stadium press room in Hartford, Connecticut. "And the thing is, the answer is so clear, no? But we're talking about it because it's my club, like Newells or Espanyol," he added. Advertisement Postecoglou was fired just 16 days after the Australian ended Tottenham's 17-year trophy drought by winning the Europa League. Postecoglou led Tottenham to a 1-0 victory over Manchester United in Bilbao to clinch the north Londoners' first European prize in 41 years and secure a place in next season's Champions League. The former Celtic boss paid the price for Tottenham's worst domestic season since they were relegated from the top flight in 1976-77. The USA have now lost three games in a row, following losses to Panama and Canada in March's CONCACAF Nations League but Pochettino was upbeat about his team's encouraging display after question marks about the attitude of his team in recent games. Advertisement "This attitude I want to continue for the future until we arrive to the World Cup … that is the only way we can improve," he said. "If I decide in September (to have a) different roster, what I want is the same level of commitment, attitude, not to complain (about) this and that," he added. sev/bb
Yahoo
44 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Aguirre unhappy as Mexico concede four against Swiss
Mexico coach Javier Aguirre did not disguise his unhappiness after a 4-2 friendly loss to Switzerland (CHRIS GARDNER) World Cup co-hosts Mexico were beaten 4-2 by Switzerland in a friendly at Rice-Eccles Stadium on Saturday, leaving coach Javier Aguirre far from happy. El Tri were facing the Swiss as part of their warm-up for this month's CONCACAF Gold Cup but their frailties were exposed by Murat Yakin's team. Advertisement "When you concede four goals, you have to hang your head and go home to train," said Aguirre, "We made a lot of mistakes, both collectively and individually, and when you do that against teams of this caliber, you get punished,' he added. Switzerland took the lead in the 20th minute when Ricardo Rodriguez sent a deep pass to Breel Embolo, who fired past goalkeeper Raul Rangel. Swiss keeper Gregor Kobel denied Mexico in the 29th minute when he blocked a point-blank shot from Santiago Gimenez with his chest. Vincent Sierro hit the bar for Mexico in the 34th minute while at the other end Rangel did well to keep out a dangerous shot from Silvan Widmer. Advertisement Gimenez brought Mexico level with a 51st minute header but the Swiss restored their advantage 13 minutes later with Zeki Amdouni side-footing home from close range. Dan Ndoye made it 3-1 firing home from a tight angle after being well set-up by Fabian Rieder but Mexico gave themselves some hope when Angel Sepulveda was foud by Alexis Vega and beat Kobel with a superb, first-time shot. But as Mexico pushed forward in search of an equaliser, the Swiss hit them on the break with Rieder providing the finish with a deft chip from the edge of the box. Mexico will face Turkey on Tuesday in North Carolina while Switzerland face the USA in Nashville. sev/bb
Hamilton Spectator
an hour ago
- Hamilton Spectator
US coach Mauricio Pochettino says ‘We're going to have the possibility to win the World Cup'
EAST HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) — A third straight loss didn't prevent Mauricio Pochettino from thinking big. 'We need to believe. We need to compete like today and for sure we're going to have the possibility to win the World Cup,' the U.S. coach said after the Americans lost their third straight game, wasting an early lead in a 2-1 defeat to Turkey in a friendly on Saturday. Jack McGlynn scored 59 seconds in for the U.S., which was missing many regulars as Pochettino revamped his roster following a dismal performance at the CONCACAF Nations League final four in March . Turkey took advantage of a sloppy defense as Arda Güler and Kerem Aktürkoğlu scored in a 2-minute, 20-second span midway through the first half. While the U.S. had 60% possession and outshot Turkey 13-11, the Americans dropped to 5-4 under Pochettino , who took over after first-round elimination at last year's Copa America led the U.S. Soccer Federation to fire coach Gregg Berhalter . They have lost three straight for the second time in a year . 'Today, who is going to tell me, oh, we showed lack of, we showed lack of — lack of what today?' said Pochettino, a 53-year-old from Argentina who coached Tottenham, Paris Saint-Germain and Chelsea. 'The team showed what (it) needed to show. ... Playing in this way, they are going to win most of the games.' Coaching a nation that hasn't reached the World Cup semifinals since 1930 or the quarterfinals since 2022, Pochettino changed eight starters from the Nations League loss to Canada in March and kept only left back Max Arfsten, winger Diego Luna and forward Patrick Agyemang. 'Some guys that are coming in — and they're not thinking twice about taking someone on. It's not playing safe. It's like, let's take risks and try to go after this thing,' said midfielder Tyler Adams, who entered at the start of the second half. 'I think having fresh faces, guys that aren't fearless, young guys, that's going to help us.' With a year to go before co-hosting the World Cup, the U.S. plays Switzerland on Tuesday at Nashville, Tennessee, in another friendly, then opens the CONCACAF Gold Cup against Trinidad and Tobago on June 15. 'I am really sad because I think this group of players are working so hard and I think we deserve (a) better result today,' Pochettino said. 'I think we performed well. I think we're brave enough. I think the attitude was: Go and press, match in every single aspect a team like Turkey that is one of the best teams in the last year in Europe.' Defender Alex Freeman, a 20-year-old son of former NFL All-Pro receiver Antonio Freeman, started in his U.S. debut. Matt Freese, a starter at Major League Soccer's New York City, made his debut in goal. Matt Turner, the usual starter since 2022, didn't play for Crystal Palace after March 1. Midfielder Quinn Sullivan and defender Nathan Harriel made debuts as 65th-minute substitutes. McGlynn scored when he ran onto a pass from Malik Tilman, took several touches, cut inside and curled a left-footed shot from just outside the penalty area inside the far post for his second goal in five international appearances. It was the earliest U.S. goal since Shaq Moore scored 20 seconds in against Canada during the 2021 CONCACAF Gold Cup. Turkey tied it in the 24th minute when Freese tapped the ball to Johnny Cardoso, whose pass ricocheted off a leg and past Freese for Güler's fifth international goal. Then in the 27th, Miles Robinson tried to clear Oğuz Aydın's shot and the ball went to Aktürkoğlu, who one-timed a bouncing shot past Freese for his 12th international goal and sixth in eight games. 'Of the goals that we concede, that created a big mess on the team,' Pochettino said. ___ AP soccer:
