First, the College Football Playoff expanded to 12 teams. Then, the NCAA Tournament expanded to 76 teams. Meanwhile, FIFA is in the midst of its newfound 48-team World Cup (the World Cup previously included 32 counties).
On that note, does FIFA have its sights set on tournament expansion — again?
After saying that the 48-team 2026 World Cup has been “a huge success,” FIFA president Gianni Infantino opened the door to add another 16 teams to the tournament for the 2030 World Cup.
“That’s definitely an issue that will be examined and discussed in the relevant committees after this World Cup,” Infantino said when asked about the possibility of expanding the World Cup to 64 teams in an interview with Swiss media outlet Bluewin. “When organizing a World Cup, it’s important to organize it for the whole world — not just Europe and South America, but effectively the entire world. Every nation should be allowed to dream of participating in the World Cup.”
Infantino believes the quality of teams is only improving, which could play into a potential expansion down the road.
“You can see that the quality of the teams is extremely high — and it’s getting higher and higher, all over the world,” Infantino continued. “If you don’t give smaller countries a chance to participate in the World Cup, they’ll lack the incentive to keep improving.”
The inaugural Men’s World Cup in 1930 included 13 teams, with that number moving to 16 on a permanent basis in 1954 (there were 16 teams in 1934, 15 in 1938 and 13 in 1950, with no World Cup in 1942 due to World War II or in 1946 due to the impact of the war). It later moved to 24 teams in 1982 and 32 teams in 1998, which was the number of countries in the tournament until 2026.
As for the World Cup in progress, Kylian Mbappé and France will face off against Lamine Yamal and Spain in the semifinal round on Tuesday; Harry Kane, Jude Bellingham and England will take on Lionel Messi and Argentina in the semifinals on Wednesday.
The winner of the two semifinal round matches will square off in the 2026 World Cup Final on Sunday, July 19 at New York New Jersey Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey (3 p.m. ET on FOX and FOX One).
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