Will the World Cup expand to 64 teams? Explaining Gianni Infantino's proposal and its likelihood

The current World Cup has not even concluded yet, and FIFA is already talking about making the next one even bigger.

President Gianni Infantino has confirmed that a 64-team World Cup for 2030 will be formally examined once this tournament wraps up, reviving a proposal that's been under discussion at FIFA for well over a year.

The 2026 edition had already been increased from a 32-team competition to 48, which was praised in some quarters for allowing the likes of Cape Verde and Curacao to qualify, but also drew criticism for the added logistical challenges and increased player workload.

Here's what's being proposed, where it came from, and how realistic it actually is.

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Will the World Cup expand to 64 teams?

Right now, it's genuinely uncertain. FIFA has not said it supports the plan, only that it will be formally discussed once the 2026 tournament concludes, and officials have been careful to note that no decision is imminent.

The proposal has real momentum behind it: a coalition of South American federations is said to be pushing hard, there is a symbolic centenary tournament to attach it to, and we have a FIFA president who has expanded the World Cup before and clearly likes the idea in principle.

But it's also running into a problem past expansions didn't face as sharply: an increasingly organised players' union and Europe's own governing body are both against it, citing the qualifying calendar and player welfare as their main objections. With 2030 now only four years away, and host nations already locked in across two continents, FIFA doesn't have unlimited time to decide.

What FIFA has said about World Cup expansion

Speaking to Swiss broadcaster Blue Sport, Infantino confirmed the idea is now officially on FIFA's agenda. "This is certainly an issue that will be looked at and discussed in the relevant committees after this World Cup," he said.

He framed the case around global access rather than pure spectacle. "When you organize a World Cup, it's important that you organize it for the whole world. It's not just Europe and South America, but the entire world, effectively. Every nation should be able to dream of taking part in the World Cup," Infantino said, adding that shutting smaller nations out removes their "incentive to keep improving."

The idea isn't Infantino's alone. It first surfaced in March 2025, pushed by South American confederation CONMEBOL, with Uruguayan federation president Ignacio Alonso raising it at a FIFA Council meeting before CONMEBOL president Alejandro Dominguez formally presented it. "We believe in a historic 2030 World Cup," Dominguez said. "We want to call for unity, creativity and believing big. Because when football is shared by everyone, the celebration is truly global." Infantino met with Dominguez and South American federation presidents in New York last September to discuss the idea further.

Opposition has been just as vocal. UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin has called the proposal "a bad idea" for both the tournament and the qualifying process that feeds into it, while CONCACAF president Victor Montagliani has said expansion isn't "the right move for the tournament itself and the broader football ecosystem, from national teams to club competitions, leagues and players." FIFPRO, the global players' union, has projected that elite internationals could be asked to play between 70 and 83 matches across club and country in a single year under an expanded calendar.

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When did World Cup expand to 32 teams?

The World Cup has grown in stages since it began with just 13 teams in Uruguay in 1930. It settled at 16 teams from the 1950s through to the late 1970s, before FIFA pushed it up to 24 teams for the 1982 tournament in Spain as the game spread to more countries across more continents and the television audience grew.

That 24-team format lasted until 1998, when France hosted the first 32-team World Cup. That was the format that stuck for the next six tournaments, running all the way through to 2022, before the 2026 edition became the first at 48 teams.

Why did FIFA expand the World Cup in 2026?

FIFA's case for expanding to 48 teams for 2026 rested on two pillars: opening the door to more countries, and generating more money.

On the access side, Africa's guaranteed slots rose from five to nine, Asia's from roughly four to eight, and Oceania secured a direct qualification place for the first time. This all gave nations like Jordan, Uzbekistan, Cape Verde and Curacao a realistic route to their first ever World Cup. On the financial side, the extra matches, up from 64 to 104, helped FIFA project roughly $9 billion in revenue from the 2026 cycle alone, compared with $7.6 billion across the entire four-year cycle that included the 2022 World Cup in Qatar. Infantino has defended the numbers by pointing to FIFA's non-profit status and its 211 member associations that share in the proceeds.

What 2026 World Cup would look with 64 teams

Using this year's tournament as the baseline shows just how big a jump to 64 teams would be. The 2026 World Cup features 48 nations and 104 matches, already a large step up from the 32-team, 64-match era that ran through 2022.

The format being discussed for 2030 would go further still: 16 groups of four teams, with every nation playing three group matches before the top two from each group move into a 32-team knockout bracket. That would push the tournament to 128 matches in total, more than double the old 32-team format and a meaningful jump even from this year's 104-match edition.