What would a 64-team World Cup look like?

The first ever 48-team World Cup is over - but already, Fifa president Gianni Infantino is looking ahead and hinting at further expansion .

Infantino has opened the door to expanding the tournament to 64 teams after ruling this year’s bumper edition as a resounding success, with Fifa vice-president Alejandro Dominguez among those in favour - and calling for it to happen as early as the 2030 edition.

Infantino successfully pushed for the growth of the World Cup to 48 teams when it was approved by the Fifa Council in 2017 but is likely to encounter greater resistance in his quest to go even bigger, with Uefa president Aleksander Ceferin among those to think the suggestion is a “bad idea”.

Fifa President Gianni Infantino at the 2026 World Cup (Getty)

Furthermore, the potential expansion now feels in some way tied to Infantino’s scheme of trying to sell stakes in the World Cup to private investors , a plan that has drawn major criticism – even leading Uefa to threaten a boycott of the World Cup and other Fifa tournaments. If European nations were to be absent from a 64-team World Cup, not only would the quality suffer, but it would be more difficult to find nations to fill every slot .

In any case, the mooted World Cup expansion would represent a doubling of participating nations in the space of just two editions and eight years. Before this year’s tournament, a 32-team World Cup had been the norm since 1998.

But if a proposal for a 64-team World Cup was passed before the 2030 edition, held across six countries and three continents, how would it work? Let’s dive in, on the assumption that there is no boycott from Uefa or other federations...

How would qualifying work for a 64-team World Cup?

Major reform would be required if Fifa expanded the World Cup to 64 teams by 2030, just as was the case for this year’s tournament, unless the process were to be restructured entirely to work for a globalised qualification system.

Extra qualifying berths would first be distributed among the confederations. For the 2026 World Cup, the Confederation of African Football (Caf), Asian Football Confederation (AFC) and Concacaf , the governing body for football in North and Central America and the Caribbean, benefited the most from the expansion, seeing their allotment effectively double, if you include the possibility of qualification through the play-offs.

Uefa, meanwhile, received only three extra places in an allotment increase of just 23 percent, which drew the ire of European nations.

Curacao were a beneficiary of the expanded World Cup, becoming the smallest ever nation to qualify (PA)

Infantino stresses inclusivity when talking about World Cup expansion so Europe, the most represented continent at the tournament, would again be unlikely to come out as a major beneficiary of the 64-team World Cup - though given the scale of this particular increase their allotment would be expected to rise to at least 20.

Elsewhere, the Oceania Football Federation would likely get another automatic berth despite New Zealand being the only nation inside the top 150 let alone 100. The AFC, Caf and Concacaf would also receive a further significant boost, opening doors for much smaller nations - like Curacao, Uzbekistan and Jordan - to qualify.

There isn’t much wiggle room for Comnebol, though - they already have six direct qualification places plus a route via the play-offs for a confederation only made up of 10 places, so Fifa can’t offer too much in the way of new berths to South America or risk making qualification there redundant.

There may also be changes to the format confederations use for qualifying. The AFC and Concacaf significantly changed their formats for the 2026 World Cup - Concacaf switched from one “Octagonal” league to a multi-round group system, while the AFC expanded to five qualifying rounds to accommodate their eight direct qualification spots. Similar reform could be required again, while Fifa’s play-off system would also need a rejig.

On a financial level, expanding qualifying could tilt the financial balance even further in Fifa’s favour. A less competitive qualifying process, with top nations getting into the finals with ease, could lead broadcasters to value qualifying tournaments less and make regional bodies more reliant on money they receive from the governing body.

How would it work in 2030?

The 2030 edition of the World Cup would be even more logistically challenging than the 2026 tournament because it will have six host countries rather than three.

Conmebol president Alejandro Dominguez is in favour of expanding the 2030 edition (Getty)

Spain, Portugal and Morocco are currently slated to host the majority of the matches, but there will be one match held apiece in Uruguay, Paraguay and Argentina, in honour of this being the centenary of the World Cup.

It makes it the first World Cup to be hosted by more than one confederation and brings with it even more logistical challenges.

Teams will have to travel vast distances and rack up even more air miles than in 2026, which spanned the length and breadth of North America, and contend with very different conditions and temperatures in the respect hemispheres - teams will go from South American winter to European and North African summer.

The head of South American football, Alejandro Dominguez, was so taken by the idea that he took to social media the day after the final, writing: “The next one is at home! In 2030, the World Cup is coming to Uruguay, Argentina and Paraguay. It will be a great opportunity for football, to celebrate the World Cup's centenary with a 64-team tournament.”

The qualifying process would have to change and likely be devalued (Reuters)

He then told Sky News after the 2026 edition that he was in favour of the expansion, saying: “The World Cup belongs to the people, and [for] 100 years, a century, we have to give the opportunity to more countries. I think that this has shown that 48 teams was tot...

Indexed and credited by AIPROPX. Originating outlet: Yahoo Sports. Open at source →