FIFA World Cup 2030 Bracket Expansion Addressed by Gianni Infantino amid Success of 2026 Tournament

Despite only being in the first edition of the expanded men's World Cup, FIFA is already exploring the possibility of widening the field.

President Gianni Infantino told Swiss outlet Bluewin that expanding the tournament from 48 to 64 teams hasn't yet been ruled out.

"That's definitely an issue that will be examined and discussed in the relevant committees after this World Cup," he said. "When organizing a World Cup, it's important to organize it for the whole world — not just Europe and South America, but effectively the entire world. Every nation should be allowed to dream of participating in the World Cup.

"You can see that the quality of the teams is extremely high — and it's getting higher and higher, all over the world. If you don't give smaller countries a chance to participate in the World Cup, they'll lack the incentive to keep improving."

One concern with the 48-team format was that there would be more blowouts at the World Cup as countries further down the pyramid struggled to compete.

That wasn't borne out this summer.

Cape Verde advanced to the knockout stage and pushed Argentina to extra time in the round of 32. DR Congo picked up four points in the group stage to advance. Iran held New Zealand, Belgium and Egypt to draws. Qatar drew with Switzerland in its opener. And Curaçao picked up a point by keeping a clean sheet against Ecuador.

There were some one-sided results but not enough to diminish the overall specter of this year's World Cup. The expansion has been a success.

Almost doubling the size of the event over a span of eight years would be a massive change, though, and risk being too much too soon.

There are also the downstream effects of having almost a third of FIFA's 211 member associations make the World Cup. The qualification process would become even more anticlimactic with more sports for each region.

Four-time champion Italy, for example, likely would've sailed through in a 64-team World Cup rather than falling into a playoff and failing to qualify this summer.

Thirteen teams competed in the inaugural World Cup in 1930. Its steady growth since then reflects the way in which more and more countries have raised their standard. It was once unthinkable that Cape Verde could make the World Cup, let alone nearly dethrone the reigning champion.

But the sport may not yet be in a place where a 64-team tournament is viable.