‘Definitely an Issue’—FIFA President Gianni Infantino Teases Another World Cup Expansion

This summer’s tournament is already the biggest in history.

Gianni Infantino is considering expanding the World Cup even further. | Alex Gottschalk/DeFodi Images/Getty Images

FIFA president Gianni Infantino has admitted that the possibility of a 64-team World Cup will be “examined,” with further tournament expansion potentially on the cards ahead of 2030.

This summer’s tournament was expanded to feature 48 teams, up from 32—a format that ran from 1998 through to 2022.

The change led to 12 groups of four teams, with the top two progressing to the knockout rounds, along with the eight best third-placed sides.

While the expansion has been praised by some for being more inclusive, particularly with regard to nations outside of Europe and South America, the more convoluted format has resulted in a group stage that took three rounds of fixtures to eliminate just a third of all teams.

Some detractors have also claimed that the quality of the tournament has been diluted by the increase in participants, while extra pressure is being put on players already under strain from packed playing schedules.

---

Infantino Calls Expanded World Cup a ‘Huge Success’

FIFA president Gianni Infantino claims to want to give nations the right to “dream”. | Carl Recine/Getty Images

Speaking to Swiss site Bluewin, Infantino hailed the new-look tournament.

“It’s been a huge success with 48 teams,” he said. “Every team played at a high level. Teams from every continent scored goals and earned at least one point. Nine out of 10 African teams reached the knockout stage. At the last World Cup, there were only five teams from Africa. That just goes to show how important it is to include all teams—to give them this opportunity to participate.”

On whether future tournaments could be upped to 64 nations, Infantino leaned into the possibility, saying: “That’s definitely an issue that will be examined and discussed in the relevant committees after this World Cup.

“When organizing a World Cup, it’s important to organize it for the whole world—not just Europe and South America, but effectively the entire world. Every nation should be allowed to dream of participating in the World Cup. You can see that the quality of the teams is extremely high—and it’s getting higher and higher, all over the world.

“If you don’t give smaller countries a chance to participate in the World Cup, they’ll lack the incentive to keep improving.”

---

Altruism or Money-Making Scheme?

FIFA are set for record-breaking revenue levels as a result of the new-look World Cup. | Verity Griffin/FIFA/Getty Images

Infantino may talk big about wanting to unite the world through soccer and give every team a chance to play a part at the event, but an expanded World Cup also means more money.

FIFA has projected record levels of revenue across its current commercial cycle (2023 to 2026), with the World Cup a key factor in that growth.

Forbes reports that FIFA expects to generate as much $9 billion from activities in 2026 alone, more than the $7.6 billion in total revenue from across the previous four-year cycle that included the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.

According to projections in FIFA’s 2024 annual report, that $9 billion breaks down to include $3.9 billion from broadcasting rights and more than $3 billion in hospitality rights and ticket sales,

Logically, a further expanded tournament would only increase already record-levels of revenue even further.

---

What Will the 2030 World Cup Look Like?

The Santiago Bernabéu in Madrid will host the next World Cup final. | Daniele Badolato/Juventus FC/Getty Images

Whether the next World Cup, scheduled for 2030, will be expanded again remains to be seen.

What is known is that the 2030 tournament will be spread across six nations, as part of plans to mark the competition’s 100-year anniversary. 1930 hosts Uruguay will hold one match, as will both Argentina and Paraguay at the start of the competition, with the remaining games split between Morocco, Portugal and Spain—with the final set to take place at Real Madrid’s Santiago Bernabéu stadium.

The Athletic reported last year that 2025, FIFA has already held talks about expanding that tournament to include 64 teams.

UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin is among those opposed to a 64-team tournament, previously calling FIFA’s proposal a “bad idea.”

“It’s not a good idea for our qualifiers as well,” he told a media conference at the UEFA congress last year.

A 64-team tournament would mean more than a quarter of FIFA’s 210 men’s international sides would qualify and would require several regional qualification processes to change dramatically, while others would likely be rendered pointless.

---