Concacaf president Victor Montagliani has joined other confederations in opposing the proposal of CONMEBOL leader Alejandro Domínguez to expand the World Cup to 64 teams for the 2030 edition of the international tournament.
Domínguez introduced the official proposal to broaden the competition during an online meeting of FIFA’s ruling council, insisting the tournament grow from the traditional 32 participants to 64.
“At Concacaf, we’ve shown that we are open to change by supporting the Women’s World Cup expansion and the continuous evolution of our Confederation’s men’s and women’s national team and club events,” Montagliani told ESPN.
“I don’t believe expanding the men’s World Cup to 64 teams is the right move for the tournament itself and the broader football ecosystem, from national teams to club competitions, leagues, and players.”
FIFA will already be testing a new 48-team format for the 2026 World Cup, but Domínguez emphasized more can be done with a larger scale tournament.
“We haven’t even kicked off the new 48-team World Cup yet, so personally, I don’t think that expanding to 64 teams should even be on the table.”
UEFA president Aleksander Čeferin also expressed dissent for the proposal by Domínguez, labeling the thought of expansion a “bad idea.”
“I think it’s a bad idea — it’s not a good idea for the World Cup itself and it’s not a good idea for our qualifiers as well,” he said. “So, I am not supporting that idea. I don’t know where it came from but it’s strange that we didn’t know anything before this proposal at the FIFA Council.”
While Asian Football Confederation (AFC) president Sheikh Salman bin Ibrahim Al Khalifa maintains that growth at this rate would incite chaos.
“If the issue remains open to change, then the door will not only be open to expanding the tournament to 64 teams,” said Salman at the 35th AFC Congress.
“But someone might come along and demand raising the number to 132 teams. Where would we end up then? It would become chaos.”
The 2026 World Cup will be testing a new format for the first time in tournament history, seeing 48 teams compete for the coveted trophy across stadiums in the United States, Mexico and Canada.
