FIFA will envisage a proposal aimed at extending the 2030 male World Cup to 64 teams, twice the size of the 2022 tournament and previous editions.
THE The World Cup should extend to 48 teams For the first time in 2026. Although the possible expansion to 64 is probably inevitable, the wait was that the fields of 48 teams would be the norm for at least a decade, and probably two, in accordance with the historic growth trajectory of the tournament.
But, at the meeting of the FIFA Council on Wednesday, according to a New York Times reportThe president of the Uruguay football federation offered a unique expansion for the 2030 World Cup, which will mark the 100th anniversary of the event. (FIFA told Yahoo Sports that the proposal was “to analyze a FIFA World Cup of 64 teams to celebrate the centenary”).
This tournament will be held in six countries and three continents. He will start with a match each in Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay, where the first World Cup took place in 1930. It will then move to Spain, Portugal and Morocco; These three neighbors, in the current format, would be responsible for hosting 104 games over 39 days.
An enlarged World Cup would increase the burden of the three. He would carry all kinds of logistical concerns. The organization of the first World Cup of 48 teams in 2026, distributed through the United States, Canada and Mexico, is already a colossal challenge for the organizers of FIFA and North America.
A 64 -team World Cup would probably be a 128 game affair. Although its format – with 16 groups of four, then a Knockout stadium at 32 teams – would actually be preferred to 48 heavy teams versionIt could stretch the capacities of transport networks and local facilities. Saudi Arabia and other future potential hosts could probably not match the event at 64 teams in 2034 and beyond.
The times reported The fact that the head of the Uruguayan, Ignacio Alonso, made the proposal by reading a declaration prepared in English towards the end of the meeting on Wednesday. He amazed some of the 37 members of the Council, the FIFA leader body, which had mainly gathered practically, by videoconference.
But Gianni Infantino, the all-powerful president of FIFA, qualified the proposal an interesting question that should be studied, according to Times.
In fact, it is not bizarre to assume that Infantino and Alonso had discussed the idea before Alonon brought it to the council. Infantino, since his 2016 elections, has tirelessly pushed competitions and Launch new ones To increase FIFA income – which he can use to keep the promises of several million dollars documents to each of the 211 FIFA member associations, which doubles like its electorate. (He was re -elected by acclamation, after being without opposition, in 2023.)
A spokesperson for FIFA, in response to an email who is looking for more details on the origin of the idea, said he was “raised spontaneously” at the meeting on Wednesday. “The idea has been recognized because FIFA has the duty to analyze any proposal from one of its members of the Council,” the spokesperson wrote.
We do not know how, exactly, the proposal will be studied, or which would decide a new expansion, or when.
In addition, FIFA already plans to extend the women's cup to 48 teams in 2031, only two cycles after its passage from 24 to 32. This 2031 tournament probably be held in the United States, after FIFA, with little justification, Most of the other potential auction hosts.
