South America backs 2030 World Cup expansion to 64 teams

The president of the South American Football Confederation (CONMEBOL), Alejandro Domínguez, has announced that the 2030 edition of the World Cup will be held with 64 participating teams, up from 48 in the 2026 edition. The proposal is backed by the South American forum and is subject to confirmation by FIFA. "In 2030, the World Cup will be held in Uruguay, Argentina and Paraguay, a great opportunity for football to celebrate the centenary of the World Cup with a competition in which 64 teams will participate,” Alejandro Domínguez wrote on the X platform.

Although FIFA has not officially reacted to the CONMEBOL president's statement, the idea of expanding the competition has been discussed for some time. In April 2025, the South American confederation officially requested an increase in the number of participants, arguing that such a decision would allow a greater number of matches to be played in the countries that will host the start of the tournament. Alejandro Domínguez is one of the closest people to FIFA President Gianni Infantino. At the helm of CONMEBOL since 2016, the Paraguayan official also holds the position of FIFA vice-president. For his part, Gianni Infantino recently stated that the proposal to expand to 64 teams would be analyzed after the conclusion of the 2026 World Cup. "When we organize a World Cup, it is important to think about it for the whole world, not just for Europe and South America. Every nation should be able to dream of participating in this competition,” the FIFA president told the Swiss publication Bluewin.

• Further expansion after 2026

The 2026 tournament, hosted by the United States, Mexico and Canada, was already the largest expansion in the competition's history, with the number of teams participating increasing from 32 to 48. The new format has seen Cape Verde and Curaçao qualify for the final tournament for the first time, confirming FIFA's strategy of expanding representation worldwide. The 2030 World Cup will be an unprecedented event. The first matches will be hosted by Uruguay, Argentina and Paraguay, to mark the 100th anniversary of the first edition of the competition, which was held in Uruguay in 1930. The tournament will then move to the main host countries - Spain, Portugal and Morocco - who will stage the majority of the competition. If FIFA approves the expansion to 64 teams, the 2030 anniversary edition will become the largest World Cup ever organized, both in terms of the number of participants and the logistical scale.