FIFA president Gianni Infantino has expressed openness to expanding the FIFA World Cup to 64 teams, saying the proposal deserves consideration once the current tournament cycle concludes and stressing that more nations should have the opportunity to compete on football’s biggest stage.
Speaking in comments reported by Swiss outlet Blue Sport, Infantino said that “the whole world should dream of the World Cup, not only Europe and South America,” arguing that the expansion to 48 teams for the 2026 tournament had already proven successful.
The FIFA president added that the standard of national teams across all continents continues to improve, strengthening the case for broadening participation in future editions of the competition.
The 2026 World Cup, jointly hosted by the United States, Canada and Mexico, is the first to feature 48 teams after the tournament remained capped at 32 participants since France 1998. The expansion increased the number of matches from 64 to 104.
Under a 64-team format, the number of games would rise further to 128, while the tournament would revert to a system in which the top two teams from each group qualify directly for the knockout stage, eliminating the current mechanism that allows some third-placed teams to advance.
Infantino’s remarks come months after South American football governing body CONMEBOL formally proposed expanding the 2030 World Cup to 64 teams as part of celebrations marking the competition’s centenary.
The 2030 tournament will be co-hosted by Morocco, Spain and Portugal, while Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay will stage the opening matches in recognition of the World Cup’s South American origins.
The proposal has divided football authorities worldwide.
UEFA president Aleksander Čeferin described the idea as “a bad proposal” for both the World Cup and its qualifying competitions. Concacaf president Victor Montagliani warned that further expansion could harm football’s overall structure, while Asian Football Confederation president Sheikh Salman bin Ibrahim Al Khalifa cautioned that increasing the number of participating teams could lead to organizational “chaos.”
Former Germany coach Joachim Löw has also voiced opposition to the plan, arguing that a 64-team tournament would be excessive and could negatively affect both the quality of matches and players’ physical condition amid an already congested international calendar.
Supporters of the proposal, however, contend that a larger tournament would create opportunities for new nations to participate while generating additional revenue for FIFA through broadcasting rights, sponsorship deals and marketing, particularly as the 2026 edition is expected to set new financial records.
If approved, the 2030 World Cup—hosted by Morocco, Spain and Portugal—would become the first edition in history to feature 64 teams, reshaping the structure of the world’s most-watched sporting event and fueling an ongoing debate between advocates of greater inclusivity and critics concerned about its sporting and logistical consequences.
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