World Cup could expand to 64 teams, FIFA President Gianni Infantino says

Jun 1, 2026; Dallas, Texas, USA; FIFA President Gianni Infantino holds the World Cup trophy while he speaks during the grand opening of the 2026 FIFA World Cup international broadcast center at Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center. Mandatory Credit: Raymond Carlin III-Imagn Images

By Dave Kelsey on July 12, 2026

The 2026 FIFA World Cup featured the largest field of teams yet, featuring 48 teams compared to the 32 teams previously involved in the tournament. However, it sounds like further expansion could be in the cards.

During a recent interview, FIFA President Gianni Infantino confirmed that after this World Cup, which is set to conclude next week, FIFA will look into the possibility of further expanding the field.

Possible Expansion?

During a recent interview with Swiss broadcaster Blue Sport, Infantino was asked about the possibility of expanding the field to 64 teams after the recent expansion from 32 teams to 48 teams. Infantino certainly did not rule it out.

“This is certainly an issue that will be looked at and discussed in the relevant committees after this World Cup,” Infantino said via ESPN. “When you organize a World Cup, it’s important that you organize it for the whole world. It’s not just Europe and South America, but the entire world, effectively. Every nation should be able to dream of taking part in the World Cup.

“We can see that the quality of the teams is extremely high, and it’s getting higher and higher everywhere in the world. If you don’t give smaller countries the chance to participate in the World Cup, they also lose the incentive to keep improving.”

Back in March 2025, South American confederation CONMEBOL proposed expanding the field to 64 teams for the 2030 tournament, which marks the World Cup’s centenary.

“We believe in a historic 2030 World Cup. We want to call for unity, creativity and believing big. Because when football is shared by everyone, the celebration is truly global,” CONMEBOL president Alejandro Domínguez said at the time.

What would it look like?

If the 64-team proposal were to be approved, the expanded tournament would double the number of matches played during the previous 32-team format that was used from 1998 to 2022.

A 64-team World Cup would feature 128 matches, whereas the 32-team format used from 1998 to 2022 included 64 matches. This year’s expanded tournament will feature 104 matches.

The biggest benefit to an expanded field would be a cleaner system for teams advancing to the knockout round. In this tournament, eight third-place teams advanced out of the group stage and made the knockout round, using various tiebreakers.. Under an expanded 64-team format, no third-place teams would advance.

About Dave Kelsey

Contributing author to The Comeback.

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