FIFA President Gianni Infantino has confirmed that world football’s governing body will examine a proposal to expand the FIFA World Cup to 64 teams from the 2030 edition, a move that could significantly increase Africa’s representation at the tournament.
If approved, the proposal would add another 16 nations just four years after the World Cup expanded from 32 to 48 teams for the 2026 tournament, making it the biggest expansion in the competition’s history.
Speaking to Swiss media outlet Bluewin, Infantino revealed that FIFA’s decision making bodies would formally discuss the proposal once the 2026 World Cup concludes.
“It is definitely an issue that will be examined and discussed in the relevant committees after this World Cup,” Infantino said.
The FIFA president defended the idea of a larger tournament, insisting that football’s biggest competition should offer more countries the opportunity to compete on the global stage.
“The World Cup is for the whole world, not just Europe and South America.
“Every nation should be allowed to dream of participating in the World Cup. You can see that the quality of the teams is extremely high and it’s getting higher and higher all over the world.
“If you don’t give smaller countries a chance to participate in the World Cup, they’ll lack the incentive to keep improving.”
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Under the current 48-team format introduced for the 2026 World Cup, CAF receives 10 guaranteed qualification places, with one additional team able to qualify through the intercontinental play-offs. A further expansion to 64 teams would almost certainly require FIFA to increase the allocation for every continental confederation, potentially handing Africa its largest-ever representation at a World Cup.
The idea of a 64-team tournament first surfaced during a FIFA Council meeting in March 2025 when Uruguayan football official Ignacio Alonso floated the proposal.
It later received public backing from CONMEBOL president Alejandro Domínguez, who argued that the centenary edition of the World Cup should be as inclusive as possible.
“The centenary celebration will unite the world, just once,” Domínguez said.
The 2030 FIFA World Cup will already be unlike any previous edition.
To celebrate the tournament’s 100th anniversary, Uruguay, Argentina and Paraguay will each host one opening match before the competition shifts to Morocco, Portugal and Spain, making it the first World Cup to be staged across six countries and three continents.
However, the proposal has also attracted criticism.
UEFA president Aleksander Čeferin has previously described a 64-team World Cup as “a bad idea,” arguing that it could dilute the quality of both the tournament and the European qualification process.
CONCACAF president Victor Montagliani has also voiced reservations, saying another expansion so soon after the move to 48 teams would not be beneficial for the competition.
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Should FIFA eventually approve the proposal, more than a quarter of its 210 member associations would qualify for the World Cup, fundamentally reshaping international football and offering many emerging football nations including several from Africa a greater opportunity to compete on the sport’s biggest stage.
