Fifa eyeing up 64-team World Cup for next tournament in 2030

Fifa eyeing up 64-team World Cup for next tournament in 2030

Fifa are understood to be eyeing up a 64-team World Cup for the next tournament in 2030. The governing body's president, Gianni Infantino, said the idea of an additional 16 nations taking part "will be examined and discussed". The tournament was expanded this year to 48 teams from its original 32, with a third-place system used to determine which sides will reach the knockout stages. However, with 64 teams, it is understood this will be scrapped, with the top two from each group qualifying for the last 32. TRENDING Stories Videos Your Say Infantino claimed that the expansion to 48 teams has been a "100 per cent success" despite criticism from fans and teams. Ghana's head coach Carlos Queiroz described it as "vulgar and ordinary". Infantino wants to go one step further now, ahead of the 2030 World Cup hosted across six nations, and bring in a further 16 teams. He told Bluewin: "It (a 64-team tournament) is definitely an issue that will be examined and discussed in the relevant committees after this World Cup. LATEST SPORTS NEWS Brendon McCullum sacked as England Test head coach just days after Ben Stokes quits Argentina players sing they will beat England 'for the Falklands' ahead of World Cup semi-final Erling Haaland's father appears to tell England fans to 'f*** off' before bitter message "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." The 2030 World Cup will have one match each in Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay. The tournament will then move to North Africa and Europe, being split between Morocco, Portugal and Spain. A tournament with 64 teams was initially proposed by Uruguayan football official Ignacio Alonso. The president of Conmebol, the South American confederation, Alejandro Dominguez, also backed the expansion, describing the tournament as a "dream". Jurgen Klopp, who looks set to become t

Fifa World Cup 2026: The tournament of IP infringement and touts

With the World Cup well underway, Ben Travers explains why IP laws are being ignored? Much has been written of the economics of the 2026 Fifa World Cup, which looks set to be the biggest yet with tens of billions in revenue on the table. With the global sports industry representing potentially trillions of dollars [...]

The 2026 World Cup team of the tournament so far (without the superstars)

We pick an XI of players who have impressed during the initial rounds of games in Canada, the US and Mexico A star was born, at 40, when a player whose highest-profile employers were Portugal’s Gil Vicente denied Spain’s all-stars in that historic 0-0 draw. His Christian name being Josimar may well have pointed to his being a nascent World Cup cult hero. So huge was his impact that the US authorities, on the orders of the House Democratic leader, Hakeem Jeffries, waived the visa fee and $15,000 (£11,300) bond for his mother, now able to fly in for her boy’s continuing adventures. Seven saves from Spain have made him a global social media sensation, too. Continue reading...