What a 64‑team World Cup could look like in 2030: Qualifying, tournament format and likelihood

The first-ever 48-team FIFA World Cup is now complete, but discussion has already shifted towards whether the tournament could grow again.

FIFA president Gianni Infantino has confirmed the governing body will assess the possibility of expanding the men's World Cup to 64 teams, arguing that more nations should have the opportunity to compete on football's biggest stage.

The proposal has supporters and critics alike, but what would another expansion actually mean for the 2030 World Cup?

FootballGroundGuide takes a look below.

How would qualifying work for a 64-team World Cup?

A larger tournament would almost certainly mean more qualification places for every confederation, although the biggest beneficiaries are unlikely to be Europe.

When FIFA expanded from 32 to 48 teams, Africa, Asia and CONCACAF received the largest increases in qualification spots.

That trend would likely continue if another 16 places were added, giving more emerging football nations a realistic route to the finals.

Countries such as Curacao, Jordan and Uzbekistan could again benefit from additional places, while Oceania would likely receive another guaranteed berth beyond New Zealand.

South America is the one confederation with little room to expand.

CONMEBOL already has six automatic places plus a play-off route despite containing only ten nations, so handing out significantly more berths would make qualification almost automatic.

Qualification formats would also need another overhaul, with longer campaigns or additional rounds becoming increasingly likely across several confederations.

What would the tournament format look like?

The simplest solution would be to keep the current four-team groups.

Instead of 12 groups, FIFA would create 16 groups of four, with the top two teams from each progressing to a 32-team knockout stage.

That would actually remove one of the more controversial elements of the 2026 format, where the eight best third-placed teams also advanced.

A 64-team tournament would increase the number of matches from 104 to 128, however, creating another scheduling headache.

Unless FIFA staged more simultaneous kick-offs, the competition would probably need to last close to six weeks.

That would inevitably reignite concerns around player welfare and an already congested international calendar.

How likely is a 64-team World Cup?

Well, this idea is no longer just theoretical.

Infantino has confirmed FIFA will examine the proposal following the success of the expanded 2026 tournament, pointing to the increased competitiveness of teams from Africa, Asia and other developing football regions as evidence that expansion is working.

However, significant opposition remains.

UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin has labelled the proposal a “bad idea”, while La Liga president Javier Tebas has accused FIFA of “destroying the football industry.”

Even leaders from confederations that would benefit from extra places have warned that another expansion could place too much strain on the international game.

The timing is another major obstacle.

The 2030 World Cup, hosted across Spain, Portugal, Morocco, Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay, is already deep into its planning process.

Any decision to add another 16 teams would require major changes to scheduling, qualification and logistics within a relatively short timeframe.

For now, a 64-team World Cup remains exactly that, a proposal, but after the success of the first 48-team tournament, it is no longer a question that can simply be dismissed, and FIFA's post-2026 review could shape the future of the competition for decades to come.