FIFA Considers World Cup With 64 Teams Only Once Held To Commemorate 100 Years

FIFA is considering holding the 2030 World Cup with 64 teams (doc. FIFA).

JAKARTA - FIFA said on Thursday, March 6, 2025, that it would review proposals to expand the 2030 World Cup to 64 teams to mark the world's biggest hundred-year football party.

The 2030 World Cup will be held in Morocco, Spain and Portugal with Argentina, Paraguay, and Uruguay - where the inaugural edition of the World Cup will be held - will host three matches.

The World Cup has expanded from 32 to 48 teams for the 2026 edition in the United States, Mexico, and Canada.

"A proposal to analyze the World Cup which 64 teams participated in celebrating 100 World Cups in 2030 was spontaneously submitted by a member of the FIFA Council on the 'other' agenda towards the end of the FIFA Council meeting held on March 5, 2025."

"The idea is recognized because FIFA has an obligation to analyze any proposals from a member of the Council," a FIFA spokesman told Reuters.

Earlier, on Thursday, March 6, 2025, The New York Times said the proposal was submitted by Ignacio Alonso, a delegation from Uruguay.

The newspaper, which did not mention the source, said the proposal was met with astonishing silence by the participants.

Furthermore, according to three people at the meeting, FIFA will most likely be driven by financial and political benefits, as will sports gains when making decisions on the matter.

FIFA President Gianni Infantino said that the proposal should be analyzed more carefully.