CONMEBOL president makes proposal to expand 2030 Men's World Cup to 64 teams

Debora Rey · The Associated Press

· Posted: Apr 10, 2025 3:30 PM EDT | Last Updated: 8 minutes ago

Alejandro Dominguez, the president of South American soccer's ruling assemblage CONMEBOL, made an authoritative connection connected Thursday to grow the men's 2030 World Cup from 32 teams to 64.

FIFA is alert of the connection that was archetypal introduced past March by a delegate from Uruguay during an online gathering of the ruling assembly of satellite soccer's governing body.

"We are convinced that the centennial solemnisation volition beryllium unsocial due to the fact that 100 years are celebrated lone once," Dominguez said during his opening code astatine CONMEBOL's 80th Ordinary Congress successful Buenos Aires.

The 2030 World Cup is already acceptable to beryllium the astir sprawling variation with six big nations dispersed crossed 3 continents.

Uruguay was the archetypal World Cup big successful 1930 and is scheduled to signifier 1 game. Paraguay, Argentina, Spain, Portugal and Morocco are besides co-hosts.

"That is wherefore we are proposing, for the archetypal time, to clasp this day with 64 teams, connected 3 continents simultaneously," added Dominguez.

Expanding to 64 teams apt would warrant each 10 CONMEBOL subordinate countries a spot successful a bigger tournament. Venezuela is the lone 1 that has ne'er qualified for a World Cup.

"This volition let each countries to person the accidental to unrecorded the satellite acquisition and truthful cipher connected the satellite is near retired of the party," added Dominguez.

If FIFA approves the move, it would make a tourney of 128 matches, treble the fig of the 64-game format that was played from 1998 done 2022.

However, UEFA president Aleksander Čeferin has called a 64-team World Cup `a atrocious idea'.

Critics of the 64-team connection person argued it volition weaken the prime of play and devalue the qualifying programme successful astir continents.