A senior soccer official revealed that 64 teams have been approved to participate in the next World Cup. Alejandro Dominguez, president of CONMEBOL, South America’s answer to UEFA, confidently said that the 2030 tournament will be held by 16 more teams.
Nevertheless, that did not stop Dominguez from effectively allowing 64 countries to compete in 2030. Immediately after the final, Dominguez posted: “Next match will be played at home! In 2030, the World Cup will be held in Uruguay, Argentina and Paraguay. It’s a great time for soccer as we celebrate the 100th anniversary of the World Cup in a tournament involving 64 teams.”
The day before, he gave a similar message ahead of the World Cup final. Nevertheless, his words were considerably less conclusive than the latest statement. He said: “We are living through a historic World Cup where 48 teams competed and for the first time was truly successful.
“Dear Gianni Infantino and friends of FIFA, congratulations to Spain for founding such a wonderful organization and for becoming the new world champions. See you at home with the dream of playing with 64 teams to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the World Cup in 2030!”
His wording in his first post described the 64-team system as a “dream” at this stage, indicating that it is still under consideration. This echoes what Infantino said when he was first asked about the 64-team tournament.
Asked about the proposal, Infantino told Blue Sports: “These are all issues that we will consider after the World Cup. It is important that when we organize a World Cup, we organize it not just for Europe or South America, but for virtually the entire world.”
“Every country should be allowed to have the dream of participating in the World Cup. We see that the quality of the teams is very high and the level is getting higher and higher all over the world. If we don’t give smaller countries the opportunity to participate in the World Cup, they lack the incentive to continue to grow.”
The 64-team proposal was met with opposition, with UEFA president Alexander Ceferin branding it a “bad idea” and Asian Football Confederation president Sheikh Salman bin Ibrahim Al Khalifa warning it would bring “chaos” to international football.
