Infantino opens door to 64-team World Cup

Here is the latest breaking news from around the world: Infantino opens door to 64-team World CupImage source, Getty ImagesImage caption, Infantino has been Fifa president since 2016ByAlex BrothertonBBC Sport journalistPublished12 July 2026, 20:09 BSTUpdated 26 minutes agoPlans for a 64-team men's World Cup are set to be picked up and assessed in detail after the 2026 tournament with Fifa boss Gianni Infantino saying football needs to be "for the whole world". The proposal for an expanded tournament was put forward last year but Infantino says the success of the expanded 48-team tournament means they should look at how a 64-team World Cup could work. "That's definitely an issue that will be examined and discussed in the relevant committees after this World Cup," Infantino told Swiss broadcaster Blue Sport, external when asked if the tournament could be expanded to 64 teams.

"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.

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If you don't give smaller countries a chance to participate in the World Cup, they'll lack the incentive to keep improving. "Infantino said that the first 48-team World Cup has been "a huge success", citing the progression of nine out of ten African teams to the knockout stages. "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 Fifa Council approved the expansion of the World Cup from 32 to 48 teams in 2017. An official proposal to expand the 2030 World Cup to 64 teams was put forward by South American governing body Conmebol in April 2025, but no decision has been reached.

The 2030 edition will be co-hosted by Spain, Portugal and Morocco, with the three opening matches to be hosted by Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay to celebrate the centenary of the competition. Uefa president Aleksander Ceferin is among those to have dismissed the proposals, with the Slovenian saying it is a "bad idea" for both the tournament itself and the qualifying process. Asian Football Confederation (AFC) president Sheikh Salman bin Ibrahim Al Khalifa agreed, saying further expansion would bring "chaos".

Victor Montagliani, president of the governing body for football in North and Central America and the Caribbean (Concacaf), said the suggestion "doesn't feel right" and believes the expansion would damage "the broader football ecosystem". However, Andrew Giuliani, executive director of the White House's World Cup task force, said the United States could consider making a bid to host the 2038 World Cup and could "handle it" if expanded to 64 teams.

The story has become one of the most prominent items on the global agenda.