Even though the World Cup Share Sale Plan was canceled, FIFA continued to advance on the 64-team scheme.

FIFA is still insisting on expanding the World Cup to 64 teams (Instagram/@fifaworldcup).

FIFA has begun a consultation process on expanding the men's World Cup to 64 teams, with a document targeting a decision on August 14, 2026.

The deadline is one month before the deadline set by FIFA President Gianni Infantino for the 211 member associations to approve his plan to sell the shares that control FIFA's major tournaments - which was eventually canceled.

Infantino's plan to sell a stake worth $20 billion was scrapped after statements from UEFA, Concacaf and the AFC condemning and rejecting the proposal, before his senior adviser resigned over it.

Despite widespread opposition to attempts to sell shares in the World Cup to private investors, FIFA still distributed a summary of a study entitled "Potential for Expanding the FIFA World Cup to 64 Teams" on Thursday, July 30, 2026, local time, with a deadline of only 15 days to reach a decision.

The 2026 World Cup, which Spain won earlier this month, is the first tournament with 48 teams and further expansion to 64 teams was personally rejected by senior FIFA figures.

However, in a new five-page document, ESPN reports that FIFA says it is considering the strategic implications of a possible World Cup expansion beyond the current format.

"Therefore, FIFA wants to appoint an independent body to determine whether and how the expansion of the World Cup from 48 to 64 participating teams, starting with the 2030 edition, will have an impact on the football ecosystem," FIFA wrote.

The document approves the distribution of the research summary on July 30, 2026 with the submission of the body's proposal on August 7, 2026.

FIFA's decision is scheduled to follow on August 14, 2026 before a full analysis is delivered on September 11, 2026.

Infantino has been under increasing pressure from regional confederations. Although he is expected to be re-elected unopposed for another four-year term in 2027, his efforts to expand the World Cup after a short consultation period are likely to intensify opposition to the Swiss-Italian.

The most controversial aspect of the FIFA Forward Enterprise (FFE) is the proposal to sell its minority stake to private investors. Thrive Eternal--a company founded by Joshua Kushner, brother of US President Donald Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner--was appointed to lead the investor group.

The plan has been rejected by UEFA - who also intend to boycott the FIFA tournament until the project is scrapped - along with the AFC and Concacaf.

Infantino's senior adviser, Carlos Cordeiro, also announced his resignation on Friday, July 31, 2026, with the investment banker calling the FFE proposal a bad deal for football.

The threat of bigger and more frequent tournaments is highlighted as a major concern for UEFA if private equity has a say over its management.

The AFC statement also heavily criticized Infantino, calling for an urgent review of its governance framework.

"This is not the first time that key stakeholders have been confronted with important initiatives after the direction of travel seems to have been determined," the AFC wrote.