FIFA President Gianni Infantino has no intention of increasing the number of participants in the next World Cup from 48 to 64 teams, which is to be held in six countries at once to mark the tournament’s centenary — Uruguay, Argentina, Paraguay, Spain, Portugal and Morocco. The Times writes about this, reports UNN.
"Plans to expand the tournament’s final stage from 48 to 64 teams in 2030 to mark the tournament’s centenary have been shelved," the publication writes.
It is noted that Infantino told members of the FIFA Bureau about this, stating that, if re-elected, he would not insist on expanding the World Cup and would abandon any plans to that effect.
Addendum
In June, FIFA President Gianni Infantino said that the organization would consider the possibility of increasing the number of participants in the FIFA World Cup to 64 national teams.
Later, CONMEBOL President Alejandro Domínguez confirmed that FIFA was once again working on expanding the number of participants in the next 2030 World Cup. The next Mundial could feature 64 national teams.
The 2026 World Cup, which was held in the United States, Canada and Mexico, featured 48 teams for the first time, rather than 32, as had been the case at previous World Cups.
The 2030 World Cup will be held in six countries at once. The first match of the upcoming World Cup, including celebrations marking the tournament’s centenary, will be played at the Centenario Stadium in Montevideo, Uruguay. The second and third matches will take place in Argentina and Paraguay, respectively. The remaining matches will be held in Spain, Portugal and Morocco.
However, Infantino fell out of favor with football officials in the summer over the idea of selling a stake in the business operations of the World Cup and his other competitions by creating a semi-private subsidiary. The idea was criticized by football associations, particularly within UEFA.
Later, Infantino withdrew his proposal to involve private investors in organizing the World Cups following sharp criticism from football confederations in Europe, Asia and North America.
It should be noted that the next FIFA presidential election is to be held in March 2027 in Morocco.
However, UEFA said that if Infantino attempts to run for another term, the European association will join forces with partners from other confederations to offer member associations a credible alternative — a candidate committed to the principles of integrity, accountability, development and genuine institutional change.