World football governing body, Federation of International Football Association, FIFA, has muted plans to expand the 2030 World Cup to 64 teams.
The move is to mark the centenary of the sport’s marquee event, FIFA said.
Recall that the 2030 World Cup will be held in Morocco, Spain and Portugal. With Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay, where the inaugural edition was staged, set to host three games.
The World Cup has already been expanded from 32 to 48 teams for next year’s edition. The competition will hold in the U.S., Mexico and Canada.
According to FIFA spokesperson, a proposal to analyze a 64-team FIFA World Cup to celebrate the centenary of the FIFA World Cup in 2030 was spontaneously raised by a FIFA Council member in the ‘miscellaneous’ agenda item near the end of the FIFA Council meeting held on March 5 2025.”
“The idea was acknowledged as FIFA has a duty to analyze any proposal from one of its Council members,” the FIFA spokesperson told Reuters.
Earlier on Thursday, the New York Times reported that the proposal was made by Ignacio Alonso, a delegate from Uruguay.
The newspaper, which did not name its sources, said the proposal was met with ‘stunned silence’ by the participants.
It added that according to three people in the meeting, “FIFA was likely to be guided by financial and political benefits. As much as sporting ones when it came to taking a decision on the matter.
“(FIFA president) Mr Infantino … described the proposal as an interesting one that should be analyzed more closely. ” The New York Times added.