World Cup expansion to 64 teams sparks debate among FIFA Confederations

FIFA President Gianni Infantino is open to a more expanded World Cup that would accommodate 64-teams.

However, the idea has received dissenting voices from various Confederations led by UEFA, CONCACAF and AFC.

But Infantino says the World Cup should be for the whole world and not just Europe and South America citing the example of the 48-nation tournament that has been a success with Africa represented by 10 nations from 5 in the previous editions since 1998.

“When organising 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,” said Infantino when speaking to Blue Sport, a Swiss broadcaster.

“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.”

“At the last World Cup, there were only five teams from Africa,” he said. “That just goes to show how important it is to include all teams – to give them this opportunity to participate.”

The edition in United States, Canada and Mexico is the first ever to host an expanded World Cup following the Fifa council approval from 32 teams in 2017.

South African football governing body Conmebol proposed further expansion to 64 teams during the forthcoming World Cup in 2030 but a decision is pending.

Uefa president Aleksander Čeferin has dismissed the idea saying it is not ideal for both the tournament and qualifying process while his Asian counterpart Sheikh Salman bin Ibrahim Al Khalifa agreed, saying further expansion would bring “chaos”.

Victor Montagliani, the Concacaf boss also said the suggestion “doesn’t feel right” and he believes the expansion would damage “the broader football ecosystem”.

The 2030 World Cup will be hosted by Spain, Portugal and Morocco with some matches played in Uruguay to celebrate 100 years of the global showpiece.

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