FIFA President says goal is to make tournament more inclusive for all nations
By Emeka Dennar
GLOBAL — FIFA President Gianni Infantino says discussions over a possible further expansion of the World Cup to 64 teams will take place after the conclusion of this year’s tournament.
The 2026 FIFA World Cup, being co-hosted by Canada, Mexico and the United States, features 48 teams for the first time — an expansion also championed by Infantino.
Speaking to Swiss broadcaster Blue Sport, Infantino said FIFA would assess the idea of another expansion once the competition is over.
“These are all issues that we will be examining after the World Cup,” he said.
Why Expand Again?
The FIFA boss stressed the importance of making the World Cup more inclusive.“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,” Infantino said.
“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.”
Infantino Defends 48-Team Format
Infantino described the current 48-team format as a success, pointing to performances across all continents.“Every team played at a high level. Teams from every continent scored goals and earned at least one point,” he said.
He also highlighted Africa’s progress, noting that 9 of the continent’s 10 representatives advanced to the knockout rounds.
At the last World Cup, there were only five teams from Africa. That just goes to show how important it is to include all teams and give them this opportunity to participate,” he added.What’s NextThe World Cup was expanded to 32 teams in 1998.
The 2030 edition will be jointly hosted by Morocco, Portugal and Spain, while Saudi Arabia is set to stage the tournament in 2034.
