World Cup 2030.. Expanding the tournament to 64 teams doubles the hosting burdens.

Gianni Infantino, the president of FIFA, confirmed that the proposal to increase the number of teams participating in the next World Cup (2030) from 48 to 64 teams will be subject to study and official discussion after the conclusion of the current edition of the tournament (2026), emphasizing that the decision has not yet been finalized.

Infantino explained that the success of the current World Cup edition with 48 teams has encouraged FIFA, the governing body of football, to evaluate the possibility of expanding the tournament in the future.

The FIFA president pointed out that expanding the World Cup aligns with FIFA's vision to give a larger number of countries the opportunity to participate in the biggest global football event, considering that this serves as an incentive to develop football in smaller and emerging nations. In this context, he cited the performance of teams from various continents in the 2026 World Cup, affirming that the increased level of competition supports the idea of broadening participation.

The 2030 World Cup will officially take place in Morocco, Spain, and Portugal, with celebratory matches held in Uruguay, Argentina, and Paraguay to mark the centenary; while the current system for the tournament remains at 48 teams until any new decision is announced.

Sharaf al-Din Dinar Belabbas, a national framework and sports advisor for the mayor of the Spanish city of Terrassa, stated that "increasing the number of teams participating in major tournaments, especially the World Cup, does not only impact the sporting aspect; it also poses a real challenge at the technical level and the infrastructure of the host countries."

Belabbas explained to Hespress that increasing the number of teams automatically means a rise in the number of matches, official delegations, fans, and media; which requires host countries to provide a greater number of stadiums that meet international standards, in addition to training facilities and supporting infrastructure capable of accommodating this increasing volume of sporting activity.