South America proposes expanding 2030 World Cup to 64 teams

South American football governing body Conmebol has formally proposed expanding the 2030 World Cup to 64 teams.

The concept was first informally and “spontaneously” suggested by Ignacio Alonso, the president of the Uruguayan Football Association, at the end of a Fifa council meeting last month. Fifa acknowledged the idea, as it does with any proposal by a member.

Now Conmebol has submitted an official proposal to mark the centennial of the World Cup, the first edition of which was won by Uruguay, by expanding the tournament even further.

“This will allow all countries to have the opportunity to live the world experience and so nobody on the planet is left out of the party,” Conmebol president Alejandro Dominguez said at the body's congress on Thursday.

“We are convinced that the centennial celebration will be unique because 100 years are celebrated only once.”

The 2026 World Cup has been expanded to 48 teams from the 32-team format used since 1998. A move to 64 teams would mean the 2030 edition would feature 128 matches. The 2026 tournament, which will be held in the USA, Canada and Mexico, will feature 104 matches, up from the previous format’s 64.

It would also mean more than a quarter of Fifa’s 211 member nations would qualify, with critics saying a further expansion would devalue the quality of games. Uefa president Aleksander Ceferin has been among those to describe the proposal as a “bad idea”.

The centennial celebration of the World Cup is already set to be a sprawling affair. Matches will take place on three continents and concerns have been raised about its environmental impact.

Spain, Portugal and Morocco are confirmed main hosts, and matches will also be played in Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay to mark the centennial.