CONMEBOL pitches 64-team 2030 WC to Infantino

FIFA president Gianni Infantino met on Tuesday in New York with CONMEBOL president Alejandro Domínguez and leaders of three South American soccer federations to discuss the expansion of the men’s 2030 World Cup to 64 teams.

CONMEBOL’s proposal for expansion was first introduced in March by a delegate from Uruguay during an online meeting of the ruling council of world soccer’s governing body.

On Tuesday, however, Dominguez met with Infantino and the federation presidents of Argentina and Uruguay, as well as the President of Paraguay, Santiago Peña, and of Uruguay, Yamandú Orsi to discuss the proposal further, marking the first time the CONMEBOL leaders presented the concept directly to Infantino.

“We believe in a historic 2030 World Cup!” Domínguez said in a social media post after the meeting. “Thank you, President Gianni Infantino, for welcoming us and sharing this journey toward the centennial of football’s greatest celebration. We want to call for unity, creativity, and believing big. Because when football is shared by everyone, the celebration is truly global.”

For the first time since the 1998 edition, the World Cup is set to expand from a 32-team format to 48 teams in 2026.

The 2030 World Cup is already set to be the most sprawling edition with six host nations spread across three continents.

Uruguay was the original World Cup host in 1930 and is scheduled to stage one game. Paraguay, Argentina, Spain, Portugal and Morocco are also co-hosts.

“I had the honor of being part of the FIFA summit, organized by Gianni Infantino, with the goal of starting to organize what will be the 2030 World Cup. It was truly a pleasure to have represented our country at this important meeting,” Argentina federation president Claudio Chiqui Tapia said in a social media post. “We are family and we have done our part to request this meeting so our dream can become reality.”

Expanding to 64 teams likely would guarantee all 10 CONMEBOL member countries a place in a bigger tournament. Venezuela is the only one that has never qualified for a World Cup.

The President of Argentina Javier Milei was not in attendance at the meeting but Paraguay’s President Santiago Peña and Uruguay’s President Yamandú Orsi participated in the meeting at FIFA’s Trump Tower offices.

FIFA general secretary Mattias Grafström was also in attendance.

“As we get closer to the date, we must reiterate that this cannot be just another event, it cannot be just another World Cup. We believe this is a once-in-a-century opportunity to have the group stage matches played in Uruguay, Argentina, and Paraguay,” Domínguez said.

If FIFA approves the move, it would create a tournament of 128 matches, double the number of the 64-game format that was played from 1998 through 2022. Earlier this year, UEFA president Aleksander Čeferin called a 64-team World Cup “a bad idea.“

Critics of the 64-team proposal have argued it will weaken the quality of play and devalue the qualifying program in most continents.

Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.