A few years ago, Gianni Infantino finalized the risky idea of playing a men’s World Cup with 48 teams, a situation that will take place next year in the United States, Canada, and Mexico.
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The cracks of a poorly planned project were quickly noticed, as Infantino’s original idea was to contest the first phase with 16 groups of three teams, where the top two would qualify for the round of 32.
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This eliminated the dramatic definitions of the final group stage match with two parallel games, as happened in Qatar 2022, and opened the possibility for the two teams in the final match to “agree” on a result that would eliminate the third team in the group.
The widespread criticism of this system devised by Infantino forced urgent changes, until the format of 16 groups (yes, 16 groups) of four teams was chosen, in which even the 8 “best third-placed teams” could qualify for the new round of the round of 16.
This format carries a heavy burden for the host country: 108 matches (there were 64 until 2022) and almost 40 days of competition.
What options does a country have to organize a tournament on its own, as is tradition? None. That’s why the 2026 World Cup will be held in the three nations of North America, and the 2030 World Cup will be hosted by Spain, Portugal, and Morocco (the Argentina, Uruguay, and Paraguay bid is purely symbolic). The 2034 World Cup will be held entirely in Saudi Arabia thanks to their billion-dollar sports investments.
A format that invites mediocrity
But there is another big problem with a 48-team World Cup: the quality of the teams competing.
For example, the Asian Confederation received 8 direct slots for the 2026 World Cup, but their teams rarely make an impact in the tournament. In the history of the World Cup, only 10 Asian teams have advanced to the second round and only one of them made it to the semifinals: South Korea in 2002 with two controversial refereeing decisions against Italy in the round of 16 and against Spain in the quarterfinals.
The same can be said of the African teams, as in history only 11 have advanced to the second round and only Morocco in 2022 was the first to reach the semifinals. For the 2026 World Cup, the Confederation of African Football received 9 direct slots.
The Conmebol, which consists of South American teams, has 10 members, and up to 7 of its national teams could qualify for the North American World Cup.
But that’s not all.
Classifying the “best third-placed teams” in the group stage was a bad experience in the 1986, 1990, and 1994 World Cups, with many teams playing not to lose, as three draws guaranteed their passage to the second round, even with two points.
In 1986, Uruguay lost 6-1 against Denmark, but thanks to a 1-1 draw against West Germany and a 0-0 draw against Scotland, they were able to qualify for the round of 16.
And now they want a World Cup with 64 teams?
Without even measuring the experiment of a 48-team World Cup yet, FIFA announced it will study a surprising proposal presented by South American football to expand the 2030 World Cup to 64 teams, double the number of teams that participated in Qatar 2022.
“A FIFA Council member spontaneously raised a proposal to analyze a 64-team FIFA World Cup to celebrate the centenary of the FIFA World Cup in 2030 under ‘other business’ towards the end of the FIFA Council meeting,” reported the football governing body on Thursday, a day after the meeting.
The idea was suggested by Ignacio Alonso, the delegate from Uruguay, according to two people familiar with the proposal who informed The Associated Press.
Expanding to 64 teams would likely guarantee the ten CONMEBOL member countries a spot in a larger tournament and make it unnecessary to play the qualifiers, which currently generate significant revenue from TV rights and ticket sales. Venezuela is the only country that has never qualified for a men’s World Cup.
How many spots would UEFA get? At least 20. Africa and Asia would have at least 3 or 4 more qualifiers than the spots they received in 2026.
A 64-team World Cup, if approved by FIFA, would lead to 128 matches being played, twice as many as the format with 32 teams that has been played from 1998 to 2022.
Adding 16 more teams than in the 2026 edition would mean that hundreds more footballers would have to play in a World Cup at a time when player unions have criticized an unrelenting expansion of games and competitions without consulting their members.
However, FIFA President Gianni Infantino has enthusiastically supported the addition to his portfolio of revenue-generating tournaments that give more teams the opportunity to qualify, citing the need to develop football on a global level.
Perhaps Infantino would be happy to see New Caledonia, Tahiti, or Fiji playing in a World Cup against England, Spain, or Argentina.