Fifa accelerate plans for 64-team World Cup amid Gianni Infantino sell-off proposal
FIFA wants an independent review of whether a 64-team format would boost global relevance and football revenue before a decision in August.
- FIFA is seeking an independent agency to assess expanding the World Cup to 64 teams starting with the 2030 finals, with agency proposals due August 7 and a final decision expected August 14.
- President Gianni Infantino advocates for expansion after declaring the 2026 tournament's 48-team format a resounding success, though Uefa president Aleksander Ceferin labeled the proposal a "bad idea."
- Expanding the finals would raise the total game count from 104 to 128, likely adding at least another week to the already five-week tournament and straining player welfare concerns.
- Infantino faces mounting pressure over plans to sell World Cup stakes to private investors, intensified by backlash from his handling of Folarin Balogan's ban following intervention from Donald Trump.
- Hosting the 2030 tournament across six countries presents logistical hurdles, requiring FIFA to implement major qualification reforms to accommodate the proposed 64-team expansion.
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71 Articles
World Cup: The FIFA and Infantino don't get enough. The World Cup 2030 could ever be the longest and biggest world championship.
Fifa's billion-dollar investor deal has failed, but another plan is taking off. There is already a big advocate.
The president of the International Federation seeks to hire an agency that will study - in a very limited period - the impact that the expansion of the maximum selection date would have. This goes hand in hand with the deadline set to vote on the controversial creation of FIFA Forward Enterprise: September 19.
The past tournament was the biggest World Cup in history so far. In the middle of the dispute over the entry of investors, the FIFA wants to check a further enlargement. Source link : https://www.zeit.de/sport/2026-07/fifa-fussball-wm-upstocking-64-team-investigation Author : DIE ZEIT: Sport – Luis Krumpmüller Publish date : 2026-07-31 18:47:00 Copyright for syndicated content lengths to the left source.
After the unpublished 2026 World Cup that was played with 48 teams, FIFA began a formal process to increase the number of teams to 64 to compete in the organization’s main tournament in 2030, in which Argentina will be one of the venues honoring the centenary of the competition. According to the official report sent to its members, FIFA is evaluating the “strategic implications” of a possible expansion and analyzing the hiring of an independent …
'Infantino's plan to sell football's soul could be final nail in FIFA coffin'
"Gianni Infantino is facing increasing pressure over his handling of the US tournament. FIFA claimed in its latest statement that its plan to sell off a stake in the World Cup 'was disrupted by incorrect media reports'"
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