FIFA president Gianni Infantino is already looking beyond 2026, floating a potential expansion of the World Cup from 48 to 64 teams ahead of the 2030 tournament.
Speaking to Swiss outlet Bluewin, Infantino said the proposal would be "examined and discussed in the relevant committees after this World Cup.” He confirmed talks on the format change would begin once the 2026 summer tournament concludes.
Infantino has been vocal about the current field size being a triumph, labelling the 48-team expansion, "100 percent a success." He pointed to African nations as proof of rising global quality, noting nine of ten African sides at this year's tournament reached the knockout stage, up from five at the previous edition.
"When organising a World Cup, it's important to organise it for the whole world," Infantino said. "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."
He added: "Every team played at a high level. Teams from every continent scored goals and earned at least one point."
The push for 64 teams has been building for over a year. Uruguayan football official Ignacio Alonso first raised the idea at a FIFA Council meeting in March 2025, and CONMEBOL formally proposed a one-off 64-team tournament for 2030 in April 2025, framing it as a centenary celebration of the World Cup's inaugural edition, hosted by Uruguay a hundred years prior. CONMEBOL president Alejandro Dominguez described the concept as his "dream" and said it would unite the world "just once," per Yahoo Sports.
Not everyone is on board. UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin called the idea a "bad idea," warning it would damage the prestige of international football and hurt European qualification. CONCACAF president Victor Montagliani also called 64 teams "not a great idea," while Ghana head coach Carlos Queiroz said the most recent expansion had already made the tournament feel "vulgar and ordinary."
Four teams, Argentina, England, France, and Spain, remain in contention at the 2026 tournament (at the time of this writing), which wraps up before FIFA's expansion discussions formally begin.
