Could the World Cup grow again? FIFA weighs 64-team expansion

FIFA President Gianni Infantino officially confirmed that the governing body is considering scaling up further to 64 teams for the 2030 World Cup, after the 2026 World Cup in the United States when Canada and Mexico, which featured 48 different times, competed in the tournament for the first time in history.

Infantino told the Swiss broadcaster about expanding to a 64-team tournament: “This is certainly an issue that will be looked at and discussed in the relevant committees after this World Cup,"

“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.”

“We can see that the quality of the teams is extremely high, and it's getting higher and higher everywhere in the world. If you don't give smaller countries the chance to participate in the World Cup, they also lose the incentive to keep improving, he continued.

The 48 teams' format in this year’s World Cup incorporates 104 total matches. Most importantly, the 2030 World Cup will feature 64 teams resulting in128 matches-double the number of games played in the tournament from 1998 to 2022.

The 2030 World Cup will mark the 100th anniversary of the first World Cup hosted by Morocco, Portugal and Spain, and this larger geographic reach is ideal for introducing an expanded version of the World Cup