The FIFA said Thursday that it will review a proposal to expand the 2030 World Cup to 64 teams to mark the centenary of the Sports Marquesine event.
The 2030 World Cup will be held in Morocco, Spain and Portugal, with Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay, where the inaugural edition was organized, organized to organize three games.
The World Cup has already expanded from 32 to 48 teams for next year in the United States, Mexico and Canada.
“A proposal to analyze a FIFA World Cup of 64 teams to celebrate the centenary of the FIFA World Cup in 2030 was spontaneously raised by a member of the FIFA council in the article of the 'Miscellaneous' agenda near the end of the FIFA council meeting held on March 5, 2025,” said a spokesman for FIFA to Reuters.
“The idea was recognized since FIFA has a duty to analyze any proposal of one of the members of the Council.”
Earlier on Thursday, the New York Times said the proposal was made by Ignacio Alonso, a delegate from Uruguay.
The newspaper, which did not appoint its sources, said the proposal was received with “stunned silence” by the participants.
He added that, according to three people at the meeting, “FIFA would probably be guided by financial and political benefits as well as athletes when it came to making a decision on the matter.”
The president of FIFA, Gianni Infantino, “acknowledged the proposal and said that it should be analyzed more closely,” added the New York Times, according to “four people with direct knowledge of the discussions.”
