The proposal to expand the 2030 FIFA World Cup to 64 teams is facing significant opposition from within the South American Football Confederation (CONMEBOL). While the idea is being pushed by the federations of Paraguay, Uruguay, and Argentina, seven out of the ten CONMEBOL members have expressed concerns.
These three nations are slated to host one match each during the centenary World Cup, which is primarily being held in Spain, Portugal, and Morocco. This arrangement commemorates the 100th anniversary of the first World Cup, hosted and won by Uruguay in 1930.
CONMEBOL President Alejandro Dominguez, along with representatives from Paraguay, Uruguay, and Argentina, met with FIFA President Gianni Infantino in New York to formally discuss the expansion proposal. The Uruguayan Football Association initially raised the idea at a FIFA Council meeting in March.
However, the other CONMEBOL members are worried about the impact of an expanded World Cup on their qualifying competition, which is a major source of revenue for many national associations. Currently, South American World Cup qualifying involves an 18-game round-robin format where all ten countries play each other home and away. The top six teams automatically qualify, while the seventh-placed team enters inter-confederation play-offs.
Expanding the World Cup to 64 teams could mean eight or nine South American teams would qualify, which raises concerns about the future of the qualifying competition. There is also a perception among some CONMEBOL members that Paraguay, Uruguay, and Argentina are promoting the expansion for their own benefit and would be the primary beneficiaries. These three nations reportedly proposed hosting the entire group stage of the 2030 World Cup, rather than sharing additional games with other South American countries.
FIFA's official position is that they are obligated to consider proposals from their members and will discuss the World Cup expansion with all stakeholders. However, the idea has already faced considerable backlash. UEFA President Aleksander Čeferin has called it a "bad idea" that would diminish the tournament's quality. Similarly, CONCACAF President Victor Montagliani stated that it "just doesn't feel right".
The World Cup has seen significant expansion in recent decades, growing from 16 to 24 teams in 1982, then to 32 in 1998, and soon to 48 in 2026. A 64-team World Cup would involve 128 matches, doubling the number played in Qatar in 2022 and 24 more than the 2026 World Cup in the United States, Mexico, and Canada. A decision regarding the expansion would be made by FIFA's Council, but it wasn't discussed at their recent meeting.
Expanding to 64 teams would mean that almost a third of FIFA's 211 member associations would participate in the finals, potentially making qualifying a mere formality for stronger teams. Critics also suggest that a significant expansion could dilute the quality of play and complicate the existing qualifying systems.
