FIFA president Gianni Infantino has said that the possibility of raising the number of teams at the World Cup to 64 will be reviewed after the 2026 World Cup ends. In his view, the World Cup should not be for a few particular regions only, but a dream stage open to every country in the world.
In an interview with the Swiss outlet Blue Sport, Infantino said hosting the World Cup could not be considered a matter for Europe and South America alone. The competition represented the whole world, he said, and every country needed to have the chance to dream of taking part in it. He said the question of increasing the number of teams would be discussed in detail after the 2026 World Cup. In his view, the standard of football in various regions of the world had improved greatly, and giving small countries the chance to take part in the World Cup would also increase their motivation to develop football.
Infantino believes the 2026 World Cup, held with 48 teams for the first time, has been a success. As an example, he pointed to the performance of the African teams, saying that nine of the 10 African teams had reached the knockout stage this time, whereas at the previous World Cup only five teams from the continent had had the chance to take part.
FIFA decided in 2017 to increase the number of teams at the World Cup from 32 to 48. Then, in April 2025, the South American football governing body CONMEBOL proposed holding a 64-team World Cup from 2030. No final decision has yet been taken on the matter. Spain, Portugal and Morocco are the main hosts of the 2030 World Cup. As part of celebrating the World Cup’s centenary, the opening matches will be held in Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay. Uruguay hosted the first World Cup in 1930.
There is, however, opposition to the idea of a 64-team World Cup. UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin has called the proposal a “bad idea.” AFC president Sheikh Salman bin Ibrahim Al Khalifa fears that increasing the number of teams could upset the balance of the competition and create chaos. Similarly, CONCACAF president Victor Montagliani believes a 64-team World Cup could have a negative impact on the overall structure of football. On the other hand, Andrew Giuliani, executive director of the US World Cup task force, has said the United States could be interested in hosting the 2038 World Cup and that even a 64-team edition could be successfully organized. FIFA’s current position is that any proposal from members will be considered seriously and discussions held with the parties concerned, but that no final decision has yet been taken on introducing a 64-team World Cup. The FIFA Council will take the final decision on the matter.
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