Swiss Gianni Infantino, President of the International Federation of Association Football (FIFA), confirmed that he can imagine another expansion of the number of teams participating in the Men’s World Cup to reach 64 teams, indicating that the idea should be considered “certainly” after the end of the current edition of the World Cup. The current 2026 edition witnessed an increase in the number of participating teams from 32 to 48 teams, but the digital calculations of this system caused 8 of the third-placed teams in the group stage to qualify for the round of 32. Yesterday, the Swiss “Blue Sport” website quoted the FIFA President as saying: “The whole world must be allowed to dream of the World Cup, not just Europe and South America.” The FIFA President described the current expansion as a “great success”… He added: “You can see that the quality of the teams in general is very high and is becoming higher and higher and higher all over the world.” It is noteworthy that the current expansion has resulted in 104 matches being played over 5 weeks, while the 64-team system will require playing 128 matches in the championship.
