FIFA is studying whether to expand the World Cup from 48 to 64 teams for the 2030 edition, a move that could reshape football’s showpiece tournament as it celebrates its centennial. The world football governing body wants to appoint an independent agency to assess the ambitious expansion plan, which would add another 16 nations to a tournament that had already grown from 32 to 48 teams in 2026.
In a research brief seen by Reuters, FIFA stated it wishes to determine whether and how expanding the World Cup from 48 to 64 participating national teams, starting with the 2030 edition, would impact the tournament proposition. The South American confederation CONMEBOL had officially proposed hosting the 2030 World Cup with 64 teams last year, allowing more countries the opportunity to join in the celebrations for the tournament’s centennial edition.
The 2026 edition in the US, Canada, and Mexico will be the first since 1998 to move away from the 32-team format, adding four more groups and an extra knockout round, resulting in 104 matches over more than five weeks. Now, FIFA is considering an even larger expansion, which has sparked both interest and concern within the football community.
The accelerated study comes on the heels of FIFA’s plan to create a $20 billion subsidiary to run the World Cup and its other events with external investors, a move that has attracted criticism and a UEFA decision to boycott FIFA events. UEFA President Aleksander Ceferin said last year that expanding the World Cup to 64 teams was not a good idea, and the European governing body’s position has not changed since then. Asian Football Confederation President Sheikh Salman bin Ibrahim Al Khalifa also voiced opposition, questioning where further expansion might end.
FIFA’s proposed analysis is meant to assess whether the proposed expansion can strengthen the tournament or whether concerns such as competition dilution, calendar congestion, operational complexity, and market saturation outweigh the potential benefits. The study will examine the impact on the competition, competitive balance, qualification, player welfare, and the international calendar, as well as estimate revenues from ticket sales, sponsorship, and media rights under the proposed format.
FIFA said a decision on selecting the agency would be made on August 14, and they would have only four weeks to deliver their analysis by September 11. The 2030 World Cup is being jointly hosted by Morocco, Portugal, and Spain, while Argentina, Paraguay, and Uruguay will host one match each to celebrate the tournament’s 100th anniversary. FIFA is already facing a dispute with its confederations due to a plan to sell stakes in World Cups and other events to private investors.
Source: www.aljazeera.com