FIFA World Cup 2030’s Expansion To 64 Teams, A Proposal By South America

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CONMEBOL, the governing body of football in South America, has officially proposed to expand the FIFA World Cup 2030 to 64 teams to mark the 100th anniversary of the competition.

The idea was put forward by the president of the Uruguayan Football Federation Ignacio Alonso. Uruguay was the original World Cup host in 1930 and is scheduled to stage one game.

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For the first time in history, the global tournament will be hosted in three different continents and six various countries. The opening matches will be held in in Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay before the actions shift to Spain, Morocco and Portugal.

FIFA World Cup 2030: The Proposal

Alejandro Dominguez, the president of South American football’s ruling body CONMEBOL, made the official proposal to expand the men’s 2030 World Cup to 64 teams.

“We are convinced that the centennial celebration will be unique because 100 years are celebrated only once,” Dominguez said during his opening speech at CONMEBOL’s 80th Ordinary Congress.

The proposal was first introduced last month  during an online meeting of FIFA’s ruling council chaired by its president, Gianni Infantino, that blindsided officials from Europe.

The FIFA chief who participated in Thursday’s Conmebol Congress, highlighted the “exceptional milestone” the 2030 tournament would represent.

There were 32 teams in the FIFA World Cup 2022 in Qatar. That number will be expanded to 48 at the FIFA World Cup 2026 in the United States, Mexico and Canada.

Expanding to 64 teams likely would guarantee all 10 CONMEBOL member countries a place in a bigger tournament. Venezuela is the only one that has never qualified for a World Cup.

“This will allow all countries to have the opportunity to live the world experience and so nobody on the planet is left out of the party,” added Dominguez.

Should the proposal be accepted, the 2030 edition would include 128 matches – up from the 64-game format played between 1998 and 2022.

Also Read: FIFA World Cup 2030: Full List Of Venues

The Naysayers 

Critics say the expanded format will potentially devalue the qualification process.

Uefa president Aleksander Ceferin described the proposal as a “bad idea” earlier this month.

“This proposal was maybe even more surprising for me than you. I think it is a bad idea,” Ceferin said at a news conference.

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