The president of the International Federation of Association Football (FIFA), Gianni Infantino, has decided to abandon the expansion of the World Cup if he is re-elected for a new term. He informed members of the presidium of his plans, reports The Times.
According to the newspaper's sources, the FIFA president said he would not insist on increasing the number of participants in the 2030 World Cup from 48 to 64 teams. The initiative was originally put forward in 2025 by the South American Football Confederation (CONMEBOL), but the idea did not find support from other confederations, including the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and the Asian Football Confederation (AFC).
In the summer of 2026, Infantino returned to the issue. At the time, The Times linked the move to a desire to secure the support of second- and third-tier football associations following a scandal over plans to sell a stake in the rights to the World Cup to private investors.
The 2030 FIFA World Cup will be held in Spain, Portugal and Morocco. To mark the tournament's centenary, three matches will be played in Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay.
In 2026, the number of countries taking part in the World Cup rose from 32 to 48. As a result, the national teams of Cape Verde, Curaçao, Jordan and Uzbekistan took part in the tournament for the first time.
Gianni Infantino has headed FIFA since 2016. The next election for the federation's president will take place in the spring of 2027 in Morocco.
