An official proposal to expand the men’s 2030 World Cup to 64 teams has been put forward by South American football governing body Conmebol.
The tournament will be hosted by Spain, Morocco and Portugal, after the opening matches are held in Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay.
The 2026 World Cup will be the first with 48 teams but Conmebol wants to expand further for 2030 to mark the competition’s 100-year anniversary.
The idea was first raised” at a Fifa Council meeting in March by Uruguayan Football Federation president Ignacio Alonso.
In a statement on Friday, Fifa said it had a “duty to analyse any proposal from one of its Council members”.
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Gianni Infantino, the president of Fifa, participated in Thursday’s Conmebol Congress and highlighted the “exceptional milestone” the 2030 tournament would represent.
The decision to expand the 2026 World Cup to 48 teams was taken in 2017 following a unanimous vote at a Fifa congress.
Fifa’s 75th congress will be held in Paraguay on 15 May, when Conmebol’s proposal could be discussed.
Should the proposal eventually be accepted, the 2030 edition would include 128 matches – up from the 64-game format played between 1998 and 2022.
Critics of the expansion say it devalues the qualification process.
Uefa president Aleksander Ceferin described the proposal as a “bad idea” earlier this month.
(Editor: Paul Akhagbemhe)
