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The World Cup may be expanding – again.
Alejandro Domínguez, the president of the South American Football Confederation (CONMEBOL), announced that the 2030 World Cup will be a “64-team tournament.”
“In 2030, the World Cup comes to Uruguay, Argentina and Paraguay, a great opportunity for football, to celebrate the World Cup Centenary with a 64-team tournament,” Domínguez posted on X.
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While FIFA hasn’t confirmed the announcement, president Gianni Infantino said on July 12 that the organization will discuss expanding the World Cup from 48 to 64 teams, just after it was expanded from 32 to 48 for this year’s edition.
“When you organize a World Cup, it’s important that you organize it for the whole world,” Infantino told Swiss broadcaster Blue Sport when asked about expansion. “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.”
In expanding from 32 to 48 teams for the 2026 tournament, this year’s World Cup featured 104 matches after there were 64 games in 2022.
With an expansion to 64 teams, the tournament would consist of 128 games, though teams would still play three group matches before playing up to five knockout games.
Even though the 2030 World Cup will be hosted by Spain, Morocco and Portugal, there will also be three centenary matches in South America to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the tournament.
After beating Argentina 1-0, Spain looks to defend its title in four years – with some games potentially on its home soil.
