2030 World Cup May Feature 64 Teams – FIFA

The President of the Federation of International Football Associations (FIFA), Gianni Infantino, has disclosed that the global football body is considering expanding the 2030 World Cup from 48 to 64 teams.

Infantino said the proposal would be discussed after the conclusion of the current World Cup, as FIFA continues to assess ways of giving more countries an opportunity to participate in football’s biggest competition.

Naija News reports that the proposal comes after the expansion of the tournament from 32 to 48 teams for the 2026 edition, with 16 additional nations participating in the competition.

The new format also increased the number of matches from 64 to 104, making the 2026 tournament the largest World Cup staged by FIFA.

Infantino described the expanded competition as a success, arguing that teams from across the continents had shown they could compete on the global stage.

According to him, the World Cup should not remain a competition dominated by traditional football powers from Europe and South America.

He maintained that countries from other regions should also be given the opportunity to dream of qualifying for and competing at the tournament.

Expansion Will Help Smaller Nations – Infantino

The FIFA president argued that increasing the number of participating teams would encourage smaller football nations to invest more in developing the sport.

He said countries that repeatedly failed to qualify for the World Cup could lose the motivation to strengthen their leagues, academies and national football programmes.

“If smaller countries are not given a chance to play at the World Cup, they may have less motivation to invest in and improve their football programmes,” Infantino said.

He added that the inclusion of more teams could help accelerate football development in countries that had traditionally struggled to qualify for the competition.

Infantino noted that teams from every continent had scored goals and secured points under the expanded format, demonstrating that the gap between established football nations and emerging teams was narrowing.

He said the competitiveness of the tournament had strengthened the case for further expansion.

World Cup Format Continues To Grow

The World Cup featured 32 teams from the 1998 tournament in France until the 2022 edition staged in Qatar.

FIFA later approved an increase to 48 teams for the 2026 tournament, significantly changing the structure and duration of the competition.

The 2026 edition added 16 countries to the previous format and expanded the total number of matches to 104.

Should FIFA approve the proposed 64-team format, the 2030 tournament would become the biggest World Cup in the history of the competition.

The expansion would create more qualification slots for FIFA’s continental confederations and offer countries that have never reached the tournament a stronger chance of making their debut.

However, the proposal would still require the approval of FIFA’s relevant decision-making bodies before it could be adopted.

Six Countries To Host Centenary Tournament

The 2030 World Cup will be staged across six countries on three continents as part of celebrations marking the competition’s 100th anniversary.

Uruguay, Argentina and Paraguay will each host an opening match in recognition of South America’s role in the history of the tournament.

Uruguay hosted and won the inaugural World Cup in 1930.

The remaining matches will be played in Morocco, Portugal and Spain, making the tournament the first World Cup to be staged across three continents.

The unique hosting arrangement is intended to commemorate the centenary of the competition while taking the tournament to Europe, Africa and South America.

Naija News reports that if the 64-team proposal is approved, the six host countries could stage a significantly larger number of matches, while more nations would participate than at any previous edition.

FIFA is expected to examine the sporting, financial and logistical implications of the proposal before reaching a final decision on the 2030 format.