Infantino says FIFA will consider a 64-team World Cup after 2026

What Infantino actually said

Gianni Infantino has reopened the question of another World Cup expansion, saying a 64-team tournament is an issue FIFA’s relevant committees will examine and discuss after the 2026 finals. The comment is not an announcement of a new format, a vote or a change to the tournament now under way. It is an indication that FIFA is willing to put the idea on its post-2026 agenda.

Bluewin reported the remark from an interview in which Infantino argued that the World Cup should represent the whole world and that every country should be able to dream of qualifying. Sportsnet likewise reported that the president said FIFA would consider the possibility. Neither report describes a timetable, a proposed competition structure, host agreement or formal decision by the FIFA Council.

The starting point is already a bigger tournament

The 2026 World Cup is the first men’s edition to expand from 32 to 48 teams. FIFA’s published format has 12 groups of four and 104 matches, hosted by Canada, Mexico and the United States. That is the format in force; a 64-team competition would be a separate future decision.

A move from 48 to 64 would add 16 places. It would therefore require choices well beyond the headline number: how places are divided among confederations, whether the group stage changes, how many matchdays are needed and how player release and recovery are protected. A 64-team format is often associated with 128 matches, but FIFA has not adopted a bracket or match total for the proposal mentioned by Infantino.

Why 2030 is the obvious reference point

The next men’s World Cup after 2026 is scheduled for 2030. FIFA has confirmed Morocco, Portugal and Spain as the principal hosts, with centenary matches in Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay. That makes 2030 the earliest edition at which a new format could plausibly be considered, although Infantino did not announce that it would be a 64-team competition.

The politics will be difficult. More places could broaden participation and create additional qualifying opportunities, especially for smaller member associations. At the same time, a longer event would increase travel, scheduling and workload questions. National leagues, clubs and players’ bodies have repeatedly pressed FIFA and continental confederations to limit calendar congestion; any proposal would face those concerns alongside the commercial appeal of more matches.

What remains unknown

FIFA has not said which committee will lead the work, when it will report, or whether the Council will be asked to vote. It has not said how the 2030 hosts view a 64-team event or whether host infrastructure assumptions would change. Those omissions are important: a president’s openness to discussion is not the same as a binding competition decision.

For now, the verified fact is narrower than some headlines suggest. The 2026 World Cup remains a 48-team tournament. FIFA’s president has said a 64-team version will be examined after it, and the next evidence to watch is a formal proposal with a format, calendar and governance route.

Expansion is a distributional choice, not only a bigger spectacle

The core trade-off is who receives the extra 16 places and who bears the added calendar cost. More qualifying slots could shift opportunity toward associations that rarely reach the finals. But the value of that gain depends on the qualifying allocation, travel design and competitive balance that FIFA has not yet published. Treating the idea as settled before those details exist would obscure the actual decision.

The test will be whether FIFA publishes a workable calendar

A credible proposal would need to show more than a team count. It would need a match schedule, rest standards, host logistics and a clear explanation of how 2030’s multi-country staging can accommodate the event. Until FIFA produces those materials and its governing bodies act, the 64-team World Cup remains an option under discussion, not a confirmed tournament.