The World Cup in the United States, Canada, and Mexico is nearing its conclusion, and the historic aftermath following the quarter-finals has sparked a wave of conspiracy theories and harsh accusations against the organizing body. Meanwhile, behind the scenes, plans are already underway to modify the tournament format and expand it to 64 teams for the 2030 event.
For the first time in football history, the semi-finals will feature the four highest-ranked teams in the FIFA official rankings: France (1st), Spain (3rd), Argentina (2nd), and England (4th). Some see this as evidence of extraordinary quality and a confirmation that the top teams have lived up to their favorites’ roles. However, skepticism quickly emerged on social media and within football circles about the possibility of the entire tournament being orchestrated from the start.
The public believes that FIFA has implemented a perfect business model: first, by expanding to 48 teams, they invited smaller nations to secure huge sums from TV rights and ticket sales in new markets, giving them a seemingly fair chance.
Infantino Confirms Consideration of 64 Teams in World Cup
As discussions swirl around potential match-fixing and scripted semi-finals, FIFA President Gianni Infantino addressed the idea of expanding the competition four years from now.
Infantino stated unequivocally that the expansion to 48 teams has been a resounding success, prompting FIFA to seriously consider including 64 nations in the upcoming World Cup, according to reports from sportal.blic.rs.
“The expansion to 48 teams has been 100% successful, a huge success! Each team played top-notch football. Teams from every continent scored goals and earned at least one point. Nine out of ten African teams reached the knockout stage, compared to only five in the previous tournament. This clearly shows how important it is to include everyone and give everyone a chance to participate.” – Gianni Infantino, FIFA President
When directly questioned by journalists about the consideration of introducing 64 teams in the World Cup, Infantino suggested that this scenario is already under discussion.
“This is absolutely a topic we will analyze in detail after this World Cup and will be discussed in our governing bodies and committees. When you organize a World Cup, it is important to do so for the whole world, not just Europe and South America. Every nation should have the right to dream of being part of this spectacle. We see that the quality level of teams is extremely high everywhere in the world. If you do not give smaller countries the chance to play on a big stage, they lose motivation to progress,” Infantino added.
