Next year’s World Cup is going to be the biggest-ever, with FIFA increasing the size of the tournament from 32 teams to 48.
It’s fair to say that expansion hasn’t been met with universal enthusiasm, with concerns that quality and entertainment will be diluted.
But the growth of football’s ultimate stage might not stop in 2026, if one of the game’s governing bodies get their way.
HOW many teams at the 2030 World Cup?!
After next year’s World Cup co-hosted by the USA, Mexico and Canada, the finals return to Europe… and Africa… and South America.
Yep, while principally being held in Morocco, Portugal and Spain, the 2030 World Cup will also feature three opening games in Uruguay, Argentina and Paraguay, to celebrate the centennial edition of the tournament. But will it be another 48-country affair?
Actually, the 2030 World Cup could be a 64-team tournament… that’s what South American governing body CONMEBOL want, anyway.
CONMEBOL, who are headquartered in Luque, Paraguay – hence the country’s inclusion as a co-host (Uruguay hosted the inaugural World Cup, beating Argentina in the final) – have made an official proposal to double the size of the World Cup from what it was up until 2022.
“This will allow all countries to have the opportunity to live the world experience and so nobody on the planet is left out of the party,” said COMMEBOL president Alejandro Dominguez.
The suggestion has already been shot down by UEFA boss Aleksander Ceferin, who made his feelings clear earlier this month, before it became official, by calling it “a bad idea”.
A 64-team World Cup, then – how about it? Once, it would have seemed inconceivable that we’d have a 48-team World Cup, but we know better than to put anything past FIFA.
We can see one flaw already, though: Dominguez claims that “nobody on the planet” will be “left out”. Does someone want to tell him that there are 211 national teams who are members of FIFA?
