FIFA: the move to a 64-team tournament "examined and discussed after the 2026 World Cup" (G. Infantino)

The expansion of the World Cup from 48 to 64 teams is "definitely an issue that will be examined and discussed in the relevant committees after the 2026 World Cup," Gianni Infantino, president of FIFA, said in an interview with the Swiss media outlet Bluewin on 10 July 2026.

"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. If you don’t give smaller countries a chance to participate in the World Cup, they’ll lack the incentive to keep improving," the Italian-Swiss executive added.

However, this proposal is not universally supported, and several observers have criticised the excessive number of matches lacking any real sporting interest during the group stage of the current World Cup - the first to feature 48 teams (up from 32 between 1998 and 2022). Aleksander Ceferin, president of UEFA, has…