Football is currently enjoying its ‘bigger is better’ era. The European Championship was expanded to 24 teams for its 2016 edition, which means that the competition has officially trebled in size in the past 30 years alone. The Champions League’s revised format for 2024/25 saw the tournament increase its number of participants from 32 teams to 36; doing away with the traditional group stage and replacing it with a much-maligned league phase instead. FIFA are only too happy to oblige in this expansion era, extending their Club World Cup exhibition in 2025. Just two years prior, the competition featured just seven teams. By the 2025 edition, it had been expanded to an eye-watering 32.
There were howls of derision when FIFA had revealed that the international World Cup would be expanded to 48 teams in 2026, from the traditional 32. As many as eight teams finishing in third place in their group will now proceed to the knockout phase of the competition… making a mockery of the competitiveness of the tournament.
The PR teams of FIFA and UEFA will tell you that the expansion is to grow the sport into new territories, exposing more fans to the beautiful game. The reality, of course, is that more games equals more money, through increased TV revenue and matchday ticket and hospitality sales. Football truly is the poster boy for when sport and business collide. If all the above wasn’t terrifying enough for a sport in which the players are already playing too many games, there has even been a suggestion that the international World Cup could grow to a mind-boggling 64 teams in 2030…
CONMEBOL president Alejandro Domínguez made an official proposal on Thursday to expand the men’s 2030 World Cup from 32 teams to 64.
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World Cup 2030 Format
The 2026 World Cup will, officially, be the biggest in the competition’s history. The expansion to 48 teams is one thing, but that brings with it a ton more games too – 40, to be exact, when compared to the 2022 edition. The increased number of games means that the tournament also has to expand in terms of the amount of days over which it is played – putting increasing pressure on the schedule of the domestic club seasons before and after the World Cup.
So big will World Cup 2026 be, three countries – the United States, Canada and Mexico – have been drafted in to co-host the action. Not everyone is sold on the concept of an expanded World Cup, but there are positives: we get to watch more football matches, for starters. And the team that lifts the trophy will have played eight games – only one more than in 2022 – so at least the workload isn’t all that more demanding.
CONMEBOL Proposes Expansion for Centenary Anniversary
So, a 48-team World Cup. You’ve got your head around the idea? Good. But wait, because there’s a proposal to expand the 2030 World Cup to 64 teams. Yes, you read that correctly. CONMEBOL, which is the governing body for football in South America, has made an official representation to FIFA to expand the World Cup to 64 teams for the 2030 edition.
The reason? That will be the centenary anniversary of the World Cup, and so some want the tournament to be a huge celebration of what is the most prestigious event in football… if not in sport entirely. Alejandro Dominguez, the president of CONMEBOL stated:
We are convinced that the centennial celebration will be unique because 100 years are celebrated only once.
A Logistical Nightmare
Expanding the World Cup would achieve that, while also presenting something of a logistical nightmare. How would they be able to fit so many games – 128, all told – into a relatively short space of time? Of course, it helps that FIFA has selected six countries across three different continents – Uruguay, Argentina and Paraguay will join Morocco and Spain and Portugal in welcoming the action. So, there would be scope to have different groups of teams stationed in each country.
However, qualification for a 64-team event would be something to ponder. How would decide how many places each continent gets? That is, perhaps, the genesis of Dominguez’s proposal – in theory, the number of spots available to CONMEBOL members could reach eight or even ten, which would enable all of the recognised footballing nations in South America to qualify automatically.
Will World Cup 2030 Have 64 Teams?
It’s highly doubtful that the World Cup will be expanded to 64 teams – even in this ‘bigger is better’ era. UEFA chief, Aleksandar Ceferin, has already labelled such a move as a ‘bad idea’, while CONCACAF representative, Victor Montagliani, went even further in his distaste for the proposal – despite his member nations arguably benefitting the most from such an expansion. More places would be available for nations from Central America and the Caribbean, who typically struggle to qualify. He said:
We haven’t even kicked off the new 48-team World Cup yet, so personally, I don’t think that expanding to 64 teams should even be on the table. I don’t believe expanding the men’s World Cup to 64 teams is the right move for the tournament itself and the broader football ecosystem, from national teams to club competitions, leagues and players.
FIFA Congress Must Pass a Vote
For another expansion of the World Cup to happen, it would need to pass a vote at FIFA Congress – that group of representatives has previous, given that they gave the green light for the tournament to be expanded to 48 teams in 2026.
But one high profile individual that wields enough power to be influential is Sheikh Salman bin Ibrahim Al-Khalifa, the president of the Asian Football Confederation and senior vice president of the FIFA Council. Al-Khalifa painted a picture of the World Cup descending into ‘chaos’ with so many teams involved, stating:
If the issue remains open to change, then the door will not only be open to expanding the tournament to 64 teams. But someone might come along and demand raising the number to 132 teams. Where would we end up then?
Without the support of UEFA, AFC and CONCACAF delegates, it will likely be impossible for FIFA Congress to garner the necessary number of votes to make a 68-team World Cup a reality. And for that, football fans can be thankful.
