The president of CONMEBOL has said on social media that the 2030 World Cup will be a “64-team tournament.”
In a post on X, Alejandro Domínguez said: “In 2030, the World Cup comes to Uruguay, Argentina and Paraguay, a great opportunity for football, to celebrate the World Cup Centenary with a 64-team tournament.”
The 2030 World Cup will be hosted by Spain, Morocco and Portugal and there will be three centenary matches played in Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay.
There has been no official confirmation from FIFA on the matter. However, on July 12, FIFA president Gianni Infantino confirmed that the organisation will discuss expanding the men’s World Cup to 64 teams after the 2026 tournament.
“This is certainly an issue that will be looked at and discussed in the relevant committees after this World Cup,” the FIFA president told Swiss broadcaster Blue Sport when asked about the possibility of a 64-team tournament.
“When you organize a World Cup, it’s important that you organize it for the whole world. It’s not just Europe and South America, but the entire world, effectively. Every nation should be able to dream of taking part in the World Cup.
“We can see that the quality of the teams is extremely high, and it’s getting higher and higher everywhere in the world. If you don’t give smaller countries the chance to participate in the World Cup, they also lose the incentive to keep improving.”
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The 2026 World Cup — which was won by Spain — marked the first time that 48 teams took part in the competition.
If a 64-team World Cup were to go ahead, it would consist of 128 matches, double the number played under the 32-team format used from 1998 to 2022. This year’s tournament featured 104 matches.
