By Elvira Pollina
July 31 (Reuters) – FIFA is studying the impact of expanding the World Cup from 48 to 64 teams for the 2030 edition, according to a document seen by Reuters.
The 2026 edition was expanded from 32 to 48 teams, adding four more groups and an extra knockout round in the process.
South American confederation CONMEBOL had officially proposed hosting the 2030 World Cup with 64 teams last year, allowing more countries the opportunity to join in the celebrations for the tournament’s centennial edition.
“FIFA wishes to appoint an independent agency to determine whether and how expanding the FIFA World Cup from 48 to 64 participating national teams, starting with the 2030 edition, would impact on the tournament proposition,” it said in a research brief.
The accelerated study comes on the heels of FIFA’s plan to create a $20-billion subsidiary to run the World Cup and its other events with external investors, a move that has attracted criticism and a UEFA decision to boycott FIFA events.
The analysis is meant to assess whether the proposed expansion can strengthen the tournament or whether concerns such as competition dilution, calendar congestion, operational complexity and market saturation outweigh the potential benefits.
“The final recommendation should demonstrate not only whether a 64-team tournament can generate incremental value, but whether that value is sustainable,” the document added.
FIFA said a decision on selecting the agency would be made on August 14 and they would have only four weeks to deliver their analysis by September 11.
The 2030 World Cup is being jointly hosted by Morocco, Portugal and Spain while Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay will host one match each to celebrate the tournament’s 100th anniversary.
Reuters has contacted FIFA for comment.
(Reporting by Elvira Pollina in Milan and Rohith Nair in Bengaluru; Editing by Ros Russell and Clare Fallon)
