World Cup 2030.. Morocco prepares for a historic edition amid the controversy of the 64 teams.
The curtain will fall later today, Sunday, on the largest edition in the history of the FIFA World Cup, as speculation has already begun regarding the possibility of a new expansion for the tournament in the 2030 edition.
This tournament was held for the first time in three countries: the United States, Mexico, and Canada, featuring 48 teams instead of 32; which increased the number of matches from 64 to 104.
In four years, six countries will host the tournament. Gianni Infantino, the president of FIFA, stated that they are considering the possibility of increasing the number of participating teams to 64.
Here are the key points to know about the 2030 World Cup:
Most of the tournament matches will take place in Spain, Portugal, and Morocco. However, to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the first World Cup held in Uruguay in 1930, it has been decided to hold one match each in Argentina (Buenos Aires), Paraguay (Asunción), and Uruguay (Montevideo).
These three matches are scheduled to take place at the beginning of the tournament, allowing the participating teams enough time to acclimate after their transfer to Europe and Africa, with their second match occurring about 11 to 12 days after the opening match.
According to the current schedule, the tournament will take place from June 8 to July 21, making it the longest tournament in the history of the World Cup, lasting 44 days.
So far, increasing the number of teams by an additional 16 has been viewed as nearly impossible logistically, as a tournament with 64 teams would require 128 matches, which is an increase of 24 matches from the current edition and double the number of matches from the 2022 Qatar edition.
This would necessitate hosting a larger number of matches in South America, increasing travel and transportation requirements. However, Infantino confirmed during the current tournament in North and Central America that this idea is worth exploring after the tournament concludes.