Gianni Infantino, FIFA president, has opened the door to a potential expansion of the World Cup to 64 national teams, a move that would mark a significant shift in the tournament\u2019s format. He stated that this possibility will be \u201cexamined and debated in the relevant committees\u201d after the current World Cup, which is being hosted by the United States, Mexico, and Canada and will conclude on Sunday, July 19, 2026.<\/p>\n
Speaking to Bluewin and quoted by L\u2019Equipe, Infantino emphasized the importance of making the World Cup a truly global event: \u201cWhen you organize one, it\u2019s important to design it for the whole world, not just Europe and South America. Every nation should be able to dream of participating.\u201d This reflects a growing recognition of football\u2019s expanding reach and the need to include smaller or emerging football nations.<\/p>\n
The 2026 World Cup is already historic as the first to feature 48 teams, up from the previous 32. Infantino pointed out that the level of competition worldwide is \u201cextremely high and continues to improve,\u201d and that excluding smaller countries from the tournament risks diminishing their motivation to develop their football programs.<\/p>\n
If the proposal to increase the tournament to 64 teams is approved, the format would likely involve 16 groups of four teams each, with the total number of matches rising to approximately 136. This expansion could offer more opportunities for underrepresented nations to showcase their talent on football\u2019s biggest stage.<\/p>\n
Looking ahead, the 2030 World Cup will be a unique event hosted across six countries and three continents: Morocco, Portugal, and Spain as the main hosts, with opening matches in Uruguay, Argentina, and Paraguay to honor the centenary of the competition. This global approach aligns with FIFA\u2019s broader vision of inclusivity and diversity in the sport.<\/p>\n
For migrants and football fans in Mexico and beyond, these developments signal a more inclusive future for the World Cup, where the dream of participation could extend to many more nations, reflecting the sport\u2019s universal appeal and the power of international unity through football.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Gianni Infantino, FIFA president, has opened the door to a potential expansion of the World Cup to 64 national teams, a move that would mark a significant shift in the tournament\u2019s format. He stated that this possibility will be \u201cexamined and debated in the relevant committees\u201d after the current World Cup, which is being hosted […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3393,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3394","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-internacional"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/topnews.mx\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3394","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/topnews.mx\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/topnews.mx\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/topnews.mx\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/topnews.mx\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3394"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/topnews.mx\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3394\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3395,"href":"https:\/\/topnews.mx\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3394\/revisions\/3395"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/topnews.mx\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3393"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/topnews.mx\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3394"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/topnews.mx\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3394"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/topnews.mx\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3394"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}