The 2026 World Cup isn’t even over yet, and FIFA president Gianni Infantino is already talking about making it even bigger. A 64-team tournament. That would double the field from just two editions ago, when 32 teams was still the standard.
Infantino pushed through the jump to 48 teams for this year’s tournament, and he’s calling it a resounding success. But the push for 64 is going to be a much harder sell. UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin has already called it a “bad idea.” Even the heads of confederations that would benefit most from the expansion — Asia’s Sheikh Salman bin Ibrahim Al Khalifa and Concacaf’s Victor Montagliani — have voiced serious concerns. Al Khalifa said it would bring “chaos.” Montagliani warned it could damage “the broader football ecosystem.”
But if FIFA does decide to go ahead, what would a 64-team World Cup actually look like? Let’s break it down.
The qualifying math gets weird fast
The biggest change would be how teams get in. For the 2026 tournament, Africa, Asia, and Concacaf saw their automatic spots basically double. Europe got just three more slots, a 23 percent bump that pissed off plenty of European federations. Infantino talks a lot about inclusivity, so Europe likely won’t be the big winner again — though with 64 teams, their allocation would probably climb to at least 20.
Oceania would almost certainly get another guaranteed spot, even though New Zealand is the only nation from that confederation ranked inside the top 150. The AFC, CAF, and Concacaf would get more slots too, opening the door for smaller nations like Curacao, Uzbekistan, or Jordan to make their first trips.
South America is the tricky one. CONMEBOL already has six direct spots plus a playoff route, and there are only 10 countries in the whole confederation. You can’t hand them many more without making qualification almost meaningless. CONMEBOL actually proposed the 64-team expansion back in April 2025, so they’re on board — but the math is tight.
The tournament format would actually get simpler
Here’s the wild part: a 64-team World Cup might be easier to follow than the current 48-team setup. Right now, 12 groups of four produce 32 knockout-round teams, which means eight third-place finishers advance. That’s messy. It’s not the clean “top two or go home” system fans grew up with.
With 64 teams, FIFA could go back to 16 groups of four, with only the top two from each group moving on. That gives you a clean 32-team knockout bracket. No more calculating which third-place teams might sneak through. It’s cleaner, even if it means more total games.
If FIFA wanted to get really creative, they could scrap the group stage entirely and go to a league-phase format like UEFA uses in the Champions League and Europa League. But that seems unlikely for a World Cup, where the group stage drama is part of the tradition.
Don’t hold your breath for 2030
Infantino said FIFA “will be examining” the idea after the 2026 tournament wraps up. But right now, he’s got bigger problems. The controversy over Folarin Balogun’s red card suspension — and the U.S. president’s reported involvement — has put him on the defensive. There are calls for him to resign. The scrutiny is real.
Pushing through a massive expansion for 2030, when the tournament is already set for Spain, Portugal, and Morocco, would take a level of political capital Infantino might not have. The 2034 edition in Saudi Arabia is a more realistic target if this thing ever happens.
But for now, the idea faces heavy resistance from the very people who would benefit most from it. That tells you everything you need to know about how far off this really is.
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