The Fifa World Cup organisers wants to expand the number of teams. Photo/Supplied
Fifa is ready to go to war with Uefa again over proposals to expand the World Cup to 64 teams for its centenary edition in 2030.
The heads of state from Paraguay and Uruguay met Fifa president Gianni Infantino at Trump Tower in New York City on Wednesday to discuss plans to increase the size of the world’s biggest sporting event yet again.
The proposals have already been rejected by Uefa president Aleksander Ceferin and his counterpart in the North and Central America region (Concacaf), but Infantino appears undeterred.
The cross-continent 2030 tournament was awarded to Morocco, Portugal and Spain but with one-off games in Uruguay, Paraguay and Argentina to commemorate the inaugural 1930 World Cup in Uruguay.
Fifa presented the structure of the tournament as a way of including South America when it made the award in December last year. However, it was also a way of ticking off regional claims to host to pave the way for Saudi Arabia to get the 2034 tournament.
Now the three South American nations want more than just a single game each. Sources say that they want each to host an entire first-round group, comprising six matches. A 64-team World Cup would potentially offer 16 four-team groups before a round of 32 – making it eight games to win the competition.
Introducing the hosts for the next two editions of the @FIFAWorldCup! 🏆
— FIFA (@FIFAcom) December 11, 2024
Morocco, Portugal and Spain will host in 2030, with centenary celebration matches in Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay.
Four years later, Saudi Arabia will host the FIFA World Cup 2034™. pic.twitter.com/WdOEdNEVxH
Fifa has occupied an office in Trump Tower as part of its charm offensive aimed at Donald Trump. The governing body is organising the 2026 World Cup without the traditional local organising committee, and Infantino has worked hard to court the US president, who has in turn lavished praise on the Fifa president.
Infantino has not commented but it is unlikely that Alejandro Dominguez, the president of the South American region, Conmebol, or indeed the three national association presidents along with the two heads of state who have lobbied Infantino, would push this hard for a 64-team expansion without some private encouragement from the Fifa president.
The idea has caused horror in Europe, which sees it as blatant Fifa expansionism. The two bodies are locked in a battle over the calendar for the elite game with Fifa’s new Club World Cup a major incursion on the supremacy of Uefa’s Champions League.
The Concacaf president Victor Montagliani has already set out his opposition to the proposal. Ceferin has called it a “bad idea”. The talks in New York come less than a year before Fifa goes ahead with its latest expansion – the new 48-team World Cup in the US, Mexico and Canada next summer, up from the previous 32.
Ceferin and Montagliani have fought a unified campaign against Fifa before, when Infantino proposed to launch the World Cup as a biennial event.
The idea is being pushed formally by the Uruguayan Football Association president, Ignacio Alonso, who first presented it in March. It naturally has the support of Dominguez, but the attendance of the two presidents from Paraguay and Uruguay – Santiago Pena and Yamandu Orsi – demonstrated the political heft that is being thrust behind it from South America.
Domínguez has said in the past that a 64-team tournament for 2030 would be a one-off and suggested that the centenary should be treated like a landmark birthday. He said in May: “Every year, it is our birthday. I am going to give you an example – not too long ago, I turned 50 and my family prepared a totally different party. I would like to invite you to think outside the box.”
Argentine president Javier Milei was not in attendance, although his country was represented by the Argentina Football Association president Chiqui Tapia.
The first World Cup in 1930 featured only 13 teams when travel to South America was problematic. Four years later in Italy it rose to 16 teams and stayed that way, barring tournaments when teams withdrew, until 1982 when it became 24. That leaped to 32 in 1998. Next year will be the first time 48 teams contest the final tournament.
Fifa has 211 members with all of them casting a single vote in presidential elections. Greater participation would mean an increase in revenue to many smaller nations, who rarely or never reach a tournament.
Fifa did not comment on the details of what was discussed at the meeting and would not confirm whether the 64-team expansion issue was raised. It referred to Infantino’s post on Instagram where he described the meeting as a “happy and important day”.