World Cup with 64 teams? One man is all for it

All around the world, people are grumbling ahead of the 2026 World Cup because it will be the first time that 48 countries take part. Fans, football enthusiasts, figures active in the football world—everyone is talking about it. Even Italy’s coach Gennaro Gattuso commented that twenty years ago only two teams from Africa participated, and now there will be far more. But that’s not the end of it. For the World Cup after this one—in 2030—the idea of yet another expansion is being pushed. This time, to 64 national teams!

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And it’s not just anyone pushing for this, but FIFA vice president Alejandro Domínguez, who is also the president of the CONMEBOL federation. The 2030 tournament will be unique in history: it will begin on one continent, with the first three matches played in Uruguay, Argentina, and Paraguay, and then continue in Morocco, Portugal, and Spain.

“Since the 2030 World Cup will mark one hundred years since the first tournament in Uruguay, I believe we must do something truly unique. And to me, that would be a World Cup with 64 participating countries! I think it would be a unique opportunity to unite the world, to bring together people from football, to make it a completely different celebration from anything we’ve seen before,” emphasized Paraguayan Domínguez.

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His idea is for the number of participants to be increased to 64 just for the centenary World Cup, and then returned to 48 afterward. However, if football history has taught us anything, it’s that once a decision to make such a change is made, there’s no going back. The other high-ranking FIFA officials know this well, and Domínguez’s idea currently doesn’t have much support.

“I think it’s a bad idea and that it would harm the tournament itself,” said FIFA president Gianni Infantino.

Victor Montagliani, the head of the CONCACAF federation, thinks the same.

“It’s not a good idea. We haven’t even kicked a ball yet in this 48-team tournament, and we’re already thinking about expanding it further. They can conduct whatever studies they want, but such an idea just doesn’t sound good” Montagliani said. If the proposal takes on an official form, the FIFA Council—which has 37 members and meets at least twice a year—will vote on it.