Sports

South American Soccer Chief Pushes for 64-Team World Cup in 2030

Is this a reckless money grab or a logical step in soccer's global growth?

JUL 21·Updated JUL 22

#Sports

South American Soccer Chief Pushes for 64-Team World Cup in 2030

Story

Above: Gianni Infantino and Alejandro Domínguez before the FIFA World Cup 2026 Final on July 19, 2026. Image credit: Eva Marie Uzcategui/FIFA/Getty Images

The Facts

South America's CONMEBOL President Alejandro Domínguez said in a post on X on Monday that the next World Cup would feature 64 teams to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the tournament.
Alejandro Domínguez on X
Independent
The Athletic
He softened his statement on Tuesday, saying that work is underway for the 2030 World Cup to be held with 64 national teams and that the centenary edition "offers [...] a historic opportunity to Dream Big" and turn the competition "into a true global celebration."
Alejandro Domínguez on X
Sky Sports
The Athletic
This comes as the proposal that Uruguayan Football Association President Ignacio Alonso raised at a FIFA Council meeting in 2025 is expected to be discussed at the FIFA Congress next March. FIFA President Gianni Infantino confirmed last week that the idea is under consideration, despite opposition from other confederations.
BBC News
Diario AS
Mercopress
The 2030 World Cup is set to be held across six countries and three continents, with Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay hosting opening games to mark the centenary before the competition moves to Morocco, Portugal and Spain. FIFA has yet to decide which venue will host the next World Cup final.
Al Jazeera
beIN SPORTS
Mercopress
If a 64-team format is approved and the competition retains the same basic structure, there would be 16 groups of four teams, with the top two advancing to a round of 32, taking the tournament up to 128 games — 24 more than in 2026 — and likely to over six weeks.
New York Post
Reuters
The Athletic

Sources Split

LEFT

CENTER

RIGHT

ESTAB
CRIT

CENTER

PRO
ESTAB

The Spin

Narrative A

A 64-team World Cup has a stronger case than most want to admit: cleaner brackets, no third-place group finishers and no added games per team. The same tired arguments about diluted quality were made when the field grew from 16 to 24 to 32 to 48 teams, and the sport kept improving each time. The real problem isn't expansion itself but whether FIFA can be trusted to handle the logistics, qualification reform and cultural integrity that make the tournament worth watching.

The Sydney Morning Herald

Narrative B

Expanding the World Cup to 64 teams is a money grab that actively destroys the soccer ecosystem. National leagues and domestic competitions are the backbone of the sport, and gutting them to stage a bloated 40-day spectacle benefits FIFA's bottom line, not the game itself. Infantino's tenure has been marked by reckless decisions, and his time leading FIFA is long overdue to end.

The Telegraph