FIFA president Gianni Infantino has confirmed that world football’s governing body will examine a proposal to expand the FIFA World Cup to 64 teams for the 2030 edition following the conclusion of the ongoing 2026 tournament.
The current World Cup, jointly hosted by the United States, Canada and Mexico, is the first to feature 48 teams after the competition was expanded from the previous 32-team format used between 1998 and 2022. Speaking to Swiss media outlet Bluewin, Infantino said the proposal would be formally discussed by FIFA’s decision-making bodies.
“It (a 64-team tournament) is definitely an issue that will be examined and discussed in the relevant committees after this World Cup,” Infantino said.
He also stressed that the World Cup should remain a truly global competition, saying it is “for the whole world, not just Europe and South America”.
“Every nation should be allowed to dream of participating in the World Cup. You can see that the quality of the teams is extremely high—and it’s getting higher and higher, all over the world.
“If you don’t give smaller countries a chance to participate in the World Cup, they’ll lack the incentive to keep improving.”
Supporters of the proposal argue that a larger competition would allow the three South American nations to host full groups rather than single matches. However, the plan has also faced opposition. UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin has previously labelled the proposal “bad idea”, warning it could reduce the quality of both the World Cup and the European qualifying competition. CONCACAF president Victor Montagliani has also expressed reservations, describing it as “not a great idea.”
Infantino also revealed that he has remained in regular contact with U.S. President Donald Trump throughout the tournament.
According to the FIFA president, Trump has closely followed the competition and is expected to present the trophy to the winners after the World Cup final, as previously announced.
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