Are you sad because World Cup 2026 is ending? The largest World Cup ever has welcomed more teams than ever before, but for the first time in history, the four top ranked FIFA nations (France, Argentina, Spain, and England) are also the last four in the competition, that started with 48 teams.
World Cup 2030 will be special, as it marks the 100th anniversary of the first officially recognised World Cup. It will also take place in three countries, Spain, Portugal, and Morocco, but will also have group stage matches in Argentina, Uruguay, and Paraguay. In fact, CONMEBOL, the football governing body in South America, has been pushing for an even bigger competition, a 64-team World Cup, that would allow more countries from the continent to qualify.
While the idea has been discussed for the last few months, with some in favour and some against, now Gianni Infantino has opened the door for the idea, although it will not be decided after the current World Cup ends. He was asked about the potential of an expansion to sixty four teams in Swiss broadcaster Blue Sport, and said those are issues that will be examined after the World Cup... but seemed opened to the idea.
"When organising a World Cup, it's important to organise it for the whole world - not just Europe and South America, but effectively the entire world. Every nation should be allowed to dream of participating in the World Cup", Infantino said.
"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."
