The FIFA World Cup expanded for this year's edition. It expanded from 32 to 48 teams. Despite the increase, there is talk of expanding the tournament ever further for the next edition in 2030.
The inaugural World Cup was held in Uruguay in 1930; with 13 sides. The tournament has developed over the decades with different formats. It expanded from 24 to 32 teams for the 1998 World Cup in France.
The 2026 tournament, held across the United States, Mexico and Canada and which began on 11 June; features 48 teams for the first time. It is due to finish on 19 July, with the final at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey.
"These are all issues that we will be examining after the World Cup," said FIFA boss, Gianni Infantino, who was one of the main advocates for expansion.
During an interview with the Swiss TV channel, Blue Sport, he declined to specify when a larger World Cup competition might take place.
"I think it is important that when you want to organise a World Cup, you do it for the whole world, not just Europe and South America, but effectively the entire world," said the 56-year-old Swiss. "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."
Teams from Africa will be among the main beneficiaries of the proposed expansion.
Although Africa and Europe have each had around 50 national football associations affiliated to FIFA; Africa has historically received proportionally fewer places at the quadrennial competition.
In 2022, there were five African sides and 13 European teams.
For the 2026 edition, there were 16 European sides. Nine places were up for grabs from Africa, and the Democratic Republic of Congo increased the continent's presence to 10 after negotiating two games in an African play-off and an inter-confederation play-off.
"Nine out of 10 African teams reached the knockout stage," Infantino added. "That just goes to show how important it is to include all teams, to give them this opportunity to participate."
Africa's 90% success rate was the highest among the regions affiliated to FIFA. South America, on 83.33%, was second, followed by Europe and Asia; both on 22.22% of their teams advancing from the group stage.
A 64-team World Cup involving 16 groups of four teams would provide a simpler structure for the round of 32.
FIFA hasn't explained how a 64-team World Cup would be structured but one option would be to return to the traditional format with a larger field.
The tournament could feature 16 groups of four teams with each nation playing three group-stage matches. The top two teams from each group would then advance to a 32-team knockout stage.
Such a format would likely increase the tournament to 128 matches. The World Cups that featured 32 teams had 64 games while this year’s tournament in Canada, Mexico and the United States has 104.
The proposal has gained its strongest backing in South America, where football officials argued that the World Cup’s centenary in 2030 is a fitting opportunity to include more nations.
The idea is being championed by CONMEBOL, South America’s football confederation, which represents the continent’s 10 national associations, including World Cup winners: Argentina; Brazil and Uruguay.
The proposal was first raised in March 2025 by Uruguayan Football Federation President, Ignacio Alonso, during a FIFA Council meeting. It was later formally presented by CONMEBOL President, Alejandro Dominguez, who argued that the centenary tournament should be more inclusive.
"We are convinced that the centennial celebration will be unique because 100 years are celebrated only once," Dominguez said when unveiling the proposal.
The 2030 World Cup is already set to be the most geographically widespread in the tournament’s history with matches across six countries on three continents.
FIFA hasn't endorsed the 64-team proposal. The governing body said it has a duty to consider proposals submitted by members of its council but there is no indication a decision on expanding the tournament is imminent.
The proposal has drawn opposition from senior football officials in Europe and Asia, who argued that expanding the tournament would make it too large.
UEFA President, Aleksander Ceferin, called the proposal "a bad idea" after it was first raised at a FIFA Council meeting. "It is not a good idea for the World Cup itself, and it’s not a good idea for our qualifiers as well," Ceferin said.
Asian Football Confederation (AFC) President, Sheikh Salman bin Ibrahim Al Khalifa, has also rejected the proposal.
"Personally, I don’t agree," Sheikh Salman said last year. "If the issue remains open to change, then the door will not only be open to expanding the tournament to 64 teams, but someone might come along and demand raising the number to 132 teams. Where would we end up then? It would become chaos."
Critics argued that a 64-team World Cup would further congest the international football calendar, reduce the competitiveness of the group stage and make qualifying for the tournament less demanding. They have also raised concerns about the added burden on players, clubs and host countries.
The next World Cup will be co-hosted by Spain, Portugal and Morocco in June and July 2030.
To mark the 100th anniversary of the first World Cup, held in Uruguay in 1930, three centenary matches will be played in Uruguay, Argentina and Paraguay before the tournament officially gets under way in its three main host nations.
The tournament then will become the first World Cup to be staged across six countries and three continents. FIFA hasn't set a timeline for deciding whether to expand the 2030 World Cup to 64 teams.
Any change to the tournament format would ultimately require approval from the FIFA Council, the governing body’s main decision-making panel. FIFA has not indicated when the council could vote on the proposal.
In the 2026 tournament, the top two teams from each of the 12 groups advanced automatically; joined by the eight best third-placed teams in the last 32.
Owing to the delay between the start and end of the final round of group games, teams playing in the later groups went into their last group match with an advantage, knowing exactly what they needed to do to secure a third-place finish.
I think another expansion is a bad idea. It will just drag the competion even longer and could become intolerable. I also believe that competion will be diluted and there will be crushing wins. There's no room for that in this kind of event.
As the saying goes, "if it ain't broke, don't fix it."