FIFA President Gianni Infantino has confirmed that the governing body will consider expanding the men’s World Cup to 64 teams after the 2026 tournament, saying the competition should represent the entire world.
Speaking to Swiss broadcaster Blue Sport, Infantino said the success of the newly expanded 48-team format has opened discussions about the possibility of a larger tournament in the future.
“These are all issues that we will be examining after the World Cup,” Infantino said when asked about a potential 64-team competition.
“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.
“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 described the 48-team World Cup as “a huge success,” pointing to the impressive performances of African nations, with nine of the 10 participating teams reaching the knockout stage.
“At the last World Cup, there were only five teams from Africa,” he said. “That just goes to show how important it is to include all teams – to give them this opportunity to participate.”
