FIFA ponders major World Cup change

The 2026 FIFA World Cup, to be played in the United States, Mexico and Canada, will be the first to feature 48 teams (up from the current 32). However, world soccer’s governing body is already mulling over making a major change for the following edition four years later.

A World Cup with 64 teams?

The 2030 World Cup, which will be hosted by Uruguay, Paraguay, Argentina, Spain, Morocco, and Portugal, could be a one-off, 64-team tournament. This proposal was presented to the FIFA Council on Wednesday by one of the co-hosts of the 2030 World Cup.

The proposal was met with caution within FIFA. The historic participation of 64 teams would coincide with the centenary celebration of the World Cup, as the first tournament was held 100 years earlier in Uruguay in 1930. It was the Uruguayan member who proposed the idea to the Council.

Sources within FIFA, familiar with the situation, indicate that the idea will be considered like any other official proposal.

FIFA World Cup celebrates centenary in 2030

“The proposal to analyze the organization of a FIFA World Cup with 64 teams to celebrate the centenary of the FIFA World Cup in 2030 was spontaneously raised by a member of the FIFA Council under the ‘miscellaneous’ agenda item near the end of the FIFA Council meeting held on March 5, 2025. The idea was accepted as FIFA has a duty to analyze any proposal from one of its Council members.”

On December 11, the FIFA Extraordinary Congress awarded the hosting rights for the 2030 World Cup to Spain, Morocco, and Portugal, with additional matches to be played in Uruguay, Argentina, and Paraguay. At the same meeting, the Congress also unanimously approved awarding the 2034 World Cup to Saudi Arabia.

Original article written by Pablo M. Fuentenebro and Aritz Gabilondo, translated with the assistance of AI and edited by Roddy Cons.

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