Gianni Infantino says smaller footballing nations need “incentive to keep improving”
Fifa could expand the next World Cup to 64 teams after successfully trying out 48 teams in the 2026 edition.
The organisation’s president, Gianni Infantino, said the matter will be considered by its committees as football’s governing body weighs a back-to-back increase in the size of its flagship competition.
The 2026 tournament in the US, Canada and Mexico is the first to feature 48 teams after being enlarged from 32. Infantino said the expansion had provided strong reasons for giving more countries access to the competition.
“That’s definitely an issue that will be examined and discussed in the relevant committees after this World Cup,” Infantino said. “When organising a World Cup, it’s important to organise 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.”
The World Cup was contested by 32 nations from 1998 until 2022 before expanding to 48 teams for the current edition, which has increased the schedule to 104 matches. A move to 64 teams would raise that total to 128 games.
Infantino described the first 48-team tournament as a thorough success because it improved both global representation and competitiveness.
“Every team played at a high level,” Infantino said. “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.”
The proposal to enlarge the competition again first emerged in 2025 when the South American confederation, Conmebol, backed a 64-team tournament for the 2030 finals, which will mark the World Cup’s centenary. Infantino later met Conmebol president Alejandro Dominguez and football federation leaders from Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay to discuss the idea.
The plan has been opposed by some sections. Concacaf president Victor Montagliani said in April 2025 that he did not believe a 64-team tournament would benefit either the World Cup or the football calendar in general, while Uefa president Aleksander Ceferin previously described the proposal as “a bad idea”.
The 2030 World Cup is scheduled to begin with one match each in Uruguay, Argentina and Paraguay before the remainder of the tournament is staged in Morocco, Portugal and Spain.
