Asuncion (AFP) – The head of South American football’s governing body CONMEBOL called on FIFA to expand the 2030 World Cup to 64 nations on Thursday in a one-off gesture as the tournament celebrates its 100th anniversary.
In opening remarks to CONMEBOL’s 80th Congress, president Alejandro Dominguez said increasing the number of teams in the tournament would allow for a broader celebration of the World Cup. The 2030 World Cup will already make history, with the tournament organised as a sprawling epic spanning six countries in three continents. The bulk of the games in what is planned to be a 48-team event will be shared by Spain, Portugal, and Morocco, with the three opening games of the tournament being split by Argentina, Paraguay, and Uruguay — the hosts of the first World Cup in 1930.
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However, Dominguez said expanding the tournament to 64 teams would enable more matches to be played in South America. “We are proposing, for the only time, to hold this centennial with 64 teams on three continents, simultaneously, so that all countries have the opportunity to experience a World Cup and so that no one on this planet is left out of this celebration,” Dominguez said. Increasing the field of teams would enable more South American countries to participate.
World football’s governing body FIFA has already increased the size of the 2026 World Cup to 48 teams, up from 32 at the Qatar World Cup in 2022. A 64-team World Cup would effectively lead to a 128-game tournament — twice the number of matches held in 2022. FIFA’s president Gianni Infantino participated in Thursday’s CONMEBOL Congress, which was held via videoconference, and highlighted the “exceptional milestone” that the 2030 tournament will represent.
The idea of a 64-team World Cup was first raised at a FIFA Council meeting in March by Uruguay Football Federation chief Ignacio Alonso. However, the proposal was met with scepticism by Aleksander Ceferin, the head of European football’s governing body UEFA, who described it as a “bad idea.” “It’s maybe even more surprising for me than for you. I think it’s a bad idea,” Ceferin said. “I think it’s not a good idea for the World Cup itself and it’s not a good idea for our qualifiers as well, as you know. So, I’m not supporting that idea,” he said.
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