Ten years into Gianni Infantino's presidency at Fifa, a familiar pattern has emerged: bigger tournaments, more matches, and higher revenues. Now, the man who brought the world a 48-team World Cup and an expanded Club World Cup appears ready to push the competition even further — to 64 teams.

Where the proposal came from

The 2030 World Cup marks the centenary of football's greatest tournament, with the main event spread across Morocco, Portugal, and Spain, and three symbolic centenary fixtures taking place in Uruguay, Argentina, and Paraguay. It is Conmebol — South America's continental confederation — that has driven the 64-team proposal, requesting a one-off expansion so it could host an additional four groups in full.

Conmebol president Alejandro Dominguez framed it as a matter of inclusion, insisting it would ensure "nobody on the planet is left out of the party." Infantino echoed that sentiment, arguing that smaller nations need the chance to compete or they will lose the incentive to improve.

Critics, however, point out that smaller nations are not excluded — they simply need to qualify. Cape Verde, Curacao, Jordan, and Uzbekistan all proved that at the 2026 World Cup.

Who supports it — and who does not

Opposition to the idea has been swift and vocal. Uefa president Aleksander Ceferin called it a "bad idea" for both the tournament and the qualifying process. Concacaf president Victor Montagliani warned it would damage "the broader football ecosystem," while AFC president Sheikh Salman bin Ibrahim Al Khalifa cautioned that further expansion could bring "chaos."

Despite that resistance, the decision ultimately rests with the 37 members of the Fifa Council — and Infantino has a track record of getting what he wants.

Would quality suffer?

The 2026 World Cup provided a mixed picture. Cape Verde electrified the tournament, drawing with Spain and Uruguay before taking Argentina to extra time in the last 16, eventually losing 3-2. Yet Haiti, Iraq, Jordan, Panama, Tunisia, and Uzbekistan all failed to register a single point.

A 64-team group stage risks reducing the early rounds to little more than a continental qualification exercise, with minimal competitive jeopardy for the leading nations. Historically, giants such as Belgium (2022), Germany (2018), Spain (2014), Italy (2010), and France (2002) have been eliminated at the group stage — an outcome that would become almost inconceivable with 64 teams.

Based on 2026 qualifying, the additional nations who would have featured in a 64-team tournament include Denmark, Italy, and Poland from Europe; Nigeria, Cameroon, Burkina Faso, and Gabon from Africa; Indonesia, Oman, and the United Arab Emirates from Asia; Honduras, Jamaica, and Suriname from Concacaf; Bolivia and Venezuela from South America; and New Caledonia from Oceania. Six of those sides rank inside the top 50 of Fifa's world rankings.

The confederation imbalance remains a serious concern. Nine of Africa's 10 sides advanced from the group stage in 2026, but only two of nine Asian teams made it through, and just three of six Concacaf sides — all co-hosts — progressed. Adding more places for weaker confederations would only sharpen that disparity.

The logistical challenge

Expanding to 64 teams means adding four more groups and at least 24 additional matches. The 2026 tournament already ran for 39 days; a further expansion would require roughly five extra days and 20 additional scheduling slots. That is manageable in theory — but stadium infrastructure, training facilities, hotel capacity, and transport networks would all need to scale accordingly.

The 2026 edition benefited from multiple time zones and covered stadiums in cities such as Atlanta, Dallas, Houston, and Vancouver. Future host nations are unlikely to enjoy those same advantages, particularly as climate change makes daytime matches increasingly difficult in warmer climates. The Saudi Arabia World Cup is expected to move to January 2035, but no clear solution exists for future tournaments in similar environments.

Is this really about money?

Infantino was elected on a platform of financial growth, and Fifa has delivered: every football association now receives $8 million over a four-year cycle, with smaller nations receiving an additional $1.2 million. Confederations collect $60 million each for development and administration.

Those funds flow primarily from World Cup revenues. A 48-team tournament was projected to generate $6.5 billion in 2017; the revised 2026 format, with 24 extra games, is expected to bring in $9 billion. A 64-team event would almost certainly raise that figure further through broadcast rights, sponsorship deals, and ticket sales.

Fifa frames expansion as serving the global game. Critics argue there is a threshold beyond which more football simply means less meaningful football. With nearly a third of Fifa's 211 member nations potentially present, the World Cup risks becoming a sprawling qualifying competition dressed up as the world's greatest sporting event.