Shameless FIFA boss pushes ahead with 64-team World Cup despite European boycott
Shameless FIFA boss pushes ahead with 64-team World Cup despite European boycott
David SchneidmanFri, July 31, 2026 at 3:00 PM UTC
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FIFA president Gianni Infantino wants to expand the World Cup from 48 to 64 teams -Credit:Photo by Image Photo Agency/Getty Images
FIFA president Gianni Infantino is pushing ahead with plans to expand the World Cup from 48 to 64 participating nations.
FIFA sent out a document Thursday with plans to accelerate the decision to expand the World Cup field from 48 to 64 teams, despite receiving widespread criticism and backlash for its separate proposal to sell off shares of the tournament to private investors.
The brief, titled “Potential expansion of the FIFA World Cup to 64 teams,” led with the following statement: “FIFA is considering the strategic implications of a possible expansion of the FIFA World Cup beyond the current format.”
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“Therefore, FIFA wishes to appoint an independent agency to determine whether and how expanding the FIFA World Cup from 48 to 64 participating national teams, starting with the 2030 edition, would impact on the tournament proposition and on football ecosystem.”
“The request is both focused on a tournament revenue assessment and on a full assessment of the change through the eyes of the football-ecosystem (brands, broadcasters, audiences, media companies, federations, confederations, leagues, clubs and other sports-industry stakeholders),” the brief continued.
“The analysis should test market appetite and system-wide consequences of this movement, including commercial spaces and risk of saturation. Consumer or fan evidence may be used where it helps but it should not become the centre of the study that remains a B2B focused study.”
The brief was sent out just two days after FIFA announced its proposal to launch the FIFA Forward Enterprise (FFE), a new arm of the governing body that would allow private investors to acquire minority stakes in the World Cup with the aim of increasing revenue for each of FIFA’s 211 member associations.
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Infantino has come under fire for his efforts to sell off shares in the World Cup -Credit:Photo by Catherine Ivill - AMA/Getty Images
The proposal was met with aggressive opposition from dozens of member associations, including those from UEFA, whose 55 nations responded by agreeing to boycott upcoming FIFA events and said “The World Cup is not for sale.”
U.S. Soccer also made its stance clear while Infantino’s position as FIFA president is now believed to be fragile as soccer federations around the globe – who are responsible for voting and electing FIFA’s president every four years – revolt against him.
One of Infantino’s senior advisers, Carlos Cordeiro, quit his position with FIFA following the proposal to sell off stakes of the World Cup.
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A potential expansion from 48 to 64 teams would, like Infantino’s FFE proposal, boost revenue even further after what was already a record-setting 2026 World Cup in which FIFA netted a reported $15 billion in earnings.
2026 marked the first World Cup in history to include 48 participating nations. Between 1998 and 2022, the tournament included 32 teams, an increase from 24 between 1982 and 1994. Between 13 and 16 national teams participated in each of the first 11 World Cups from 1930 to 1978.
FIFA said it is aiming to come to a decision to appoint an agency to advise on potential expansion by Aug. 14.
A full analysis of the proposal will then be delivered on Sept. 11, eight days before Infantino’s deadline for a decision to be made on his plans with FFE.
Source: “AOL Money”
