The primary ever 48-team World Cup is over – however already, Fifa president Gianni Infantino is wanting forward and hinting at additional enlargement.
Infantino has opened the door to increasing the event to 64 groups after ruling this 12 months’s bumper version as a powerful success, with Fifa vice-president Alejandro Dominguez amongst these in favour – and calling for it to occur as early because the 2030 version.
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Infantino efficiently pushed for the expansion of the World Cup to 48 groups when it was accredited by the Fifa Council in 2017 however is more likely to encounter higher resistance in his quest to go even larger, with Uefa president Aleksander Ceferin amongst these to assume the suggestion is a “unhealthy thought”.
Fifa President Gianni Infantino on the 2026 World Cup (Getty)
Moreover, the potential enlargement now feels not directly tied to Infantino’s scheme of making an attempt to promote stakes within the World Cup to non-public buyers, a plan that has drawn main criticism – even main Uefa to threaten a boycott of the World Cup and different Fifa tournaments. If European nations have been to be absent from a 64-team World Cup, not solely would the standard endure, however it might be tougher to seek out nations to fill each slot.
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In any case, the mooted World Cup enlargement would signify a doubling of collaborating nations within the area of simply two editions and eight years. Earlier than this 12 months’s event, a 32-team World Cup had been the norm since 1998.
But when a proposal for a 64-team World Cup was handed earlier than the 2030 version, held throughout six nations and three continents, how wouldn’t it work? Let’s dive in, on the idea that there is no such thing as a boycott from Uefa or different federations…
How would qualifying work for a 64-team World Cup?
Main reform could be required if Fifa expanded the World Cup to 64 groups by 2030, simply as was the case for this 12 months’s event.
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Additional qualifying berths would first be distributed among the many confederations. For the 2026 World Cup, the Confederation of African Soccer (Caf), Asian Soccer Confederation (AFC) and Concacaf, the governing physique for soccer in North and Central America and the Caribbean, benefited probably the most from the enlargement, seeing their allotment successfully double, when you embody the potential of qualification by way of the play-offs.
Uefa, in the meantime, acquired solely three additional locations in an allotment enhance of simply 23 %, which drew the ire of European nations.
Curacao have been a beneficiary of the expanded World Cup, changing into the smallest ever nation to qualify (PA)
Infantino stresses inclusivity when speaking about World Cup enlargement so Europe, probably the most represented continent on the event, would once more be unlikely to come back out as a serious beneficiary of the 64-team World Cup – although given the size of this specific enhance their allotment could be anticipated to rise to at the least 20.
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Elsewhere, the Oceania Soccer Federation would seemingly get one other automated berth regardless of New Zealand being the one nation inside the highest 150 not to mention 100. The AFC, Caf and Concacaf would additionally obtain an additional vital increase, opening doorways for a lot smaller nations – like Curacao, Uzbekistan and Jordan – to qualify.
There is not a lot wiggle room for Comnebol, although – they have already got six direct qualification locations plus a route through the play-offs for a confederation solely made up of 10 locations, so Fifa cannot supply an excessive amount of in the way in which of recent berths to South America or threat making qualification there redundant.
There may additionally be modifications to the format confederations use for qualifying. The AFC and Concacaf considerably modified their codecs for the 2026 World Cup – Concacaf switched from one “Octagonal” league to a multi-round group system, whereas the AFC expanded to 5 qualifying rounds to accommodate their eight direct qualification spots. Related reform may very well be required once more, whereas Fifa’s play-off system would additionally want a rejig.
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On a monetary stage, increasing qualifying might tilt the monetary stability even additional in Fifa’s favour. A much less aggressive qualifying course of, with prime nations stepping into the finals with ease, may lead broadcasters to worth qualifying tournaments much less and make regional our bodies extra reliant on cash they obtain from the governing physique.
How wouldn’t it work in 2030?
The 2030 version of the World Cup could be much more logistically difficult than the 2026 event as a result of it should have six host nations quite than three.
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Conmebol president Alejandro Dominguez is in favour of increasing the 2030 version (Getty)
Spain, Portugal and Morocco are at the moment slated to host nearly all of the matches, however there can be one match held apiece in Uruguay, Paraguay and Argentina, in honour of this being the centenary of the World Cup.
It makes it the primary World Cup to be hosted by a couple of confederation and brings with it much more logistical challenges.
Groups should journey huge distances and rack up much more air miles than in 2026, which spanned the size and breadth of North America, and cope with very completely different circumstances and temperatures within the respect hemispheres – groups will go from South American winter to European and North African summer time.
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The pinnacle of South American soccer, Alejandro Dominguez, was so taken by the concept that he took to social media the day after the ultimate, writing: “The following one is at dwelling! In 2030, the World Cup is coming to Uruguay, Argentina and Paraguay. Will probably be an amazing alternative for soccer, to rejoice the World Cup’s centenary with a 64-team event.”
The qualifying course of must change and sure be devalued (Reuters)
He then instructed Sky Information after the 2026 version that he was in favour of the enlargement, saying: “The World Cup belongs to the folks, and [for] 100 years, a century, we’ve to make it possible to extra nations. I believe that this has proven that 48 groups was completely profitable.”
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He additional difficult issues by saying “I hope so, for certain,” when requested if he hoped South America would host extra video games in 2030 than the deliberate three.
In that case, what number of would South America be allotted, when and the place? Which groups would compete in these matches, and be put at an obstacle with but extra journey and adjusting to completely different circumstances? How might Fifa assure equity among the many groups? And the way nicely will every nation, or metropolis, deal with the pressure on assets of internet hosting extra groups? All questions which as but we’ve no solutions for.
How would the event finals work?
Fifa might go for an enormous overhaul the format of the World Cup, perhaps leaning in direction of Uefa’s shift from group stage to league part of their continental competitions.
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However as issues stand, a 64-team World Cup would simply imply extra teams – 4 to be actual, on prime of the 12 we already had this 12 months.
The World Cup had so as to add 4 extra teams to accommodate for the expanded 48-team event (Getty Photographs)
In that case, the large change would see third-place qualifiers written out of the event. On the 2026 World Cup, a spherical of 32 was added to accommodate the rise to 48 groups, which meant that eight groups who completed third of their group additionally certified – a departure from the black and white format of “prime two or eradicated” we’re all so accustomed to.
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Nonetheless, Fifa must return to that system in the event that they expanded the World Cup to 64 groups, as a result of the highest two from every group would fill out a spherical of 32.
This might be the one main change to the World Cup finals if Fifa saved the identical four-team group stage plus knockouts format. In the event that they elevated the scale of teams, or did away with teams altogether, then extra knockout rounds could also be launched. An instance of what this additional spherical might seem like may very well be the knockouts play-off as seen within the Champions League.
Increasing the finals to 64 groups would imply taking the variety of video games from 104 to 128, which might more than likely add at the least one other week to what’s already a five-week event, except Fifa opted to additional compress the schedule of video games or maintain extra concurrently. With viewing figures and profitable broadcast income so necessary, that feels unlikely.
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And it might additional add to considerations over participant welfare, with but extra video games added to an already congested calendar and the event taking on much more area.
How seemingly is one other enlargement?
Fifa president Gianni Infantino has opened the door to increasing the World Cup once more (Getty)
You’ll be able to’t write something off with Fifa if there’s industrial or monetary profit connected to it, as could be the case with a 64-team World Cup. However for the meantime, this enlargement shouldn’t be assured.
Amid the torrent of backlash Infantino is receiving, he might not even survive as president of Fifa. This backlash stems not simply from his plan to promote stakes within the World Cup, but additionally his dealing with of Folarin Balogan’s overturned World Cup ban – a growth which got here after US president Donald Trump intervened, permitting the USA striker to function within the nation’s last knockout recreation.
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Fifa will wrestle to cross this proposal in time for the 2030 World Cup, though Infantino has tried to speed up the method, and he is probably not in energy lengthy sufficient to see the imaginative and prescient by way of for the 2034 version in Saudi Arabia.
And whereas South American federation Conmebol formally proposed this actual enlargement in April 2025, many different footballing leaders have dismissed it. AFC president Sheikh Salman bin Ibrahim Al Khalifa mentioned additional enlargement would convey “chaos” whereas Concacaf chief Victor Montagliani feared such a suggestion coming to cross would harm “the broader soccer ecosystem”. That is from two confederations which might profit most from an expanded World Cup.
The final word choice will relaxation with the Fifa Council, nevertheless, so time will inform whether or not the world governing physique ramps up on this proposal within the fallout of the 2026 World Cup.