On June 11, the 2026 World Cup begins – the very first 48-nation World Cup organized jointly by the United States, Canada and Mexico. This new format has of course required adjustments, whether in terms of qualifiers, logistics and timing of the final phase. A necessary adaptation that has not yet been fully tested, and yet FIFA is already considering taking it to the next level.
According to the Spanish sports daily AS, Gianni Infantino has decided to increase the number of countries qualified for the World Cup to 64 in the future. And this possibly from 2030 and an edition co-organized by Spain, Portugal and Morocco. This aims to meet the expectations of the South American confederation (CONMEBOL), keen to send nations usually excluded from the qualifying phase to the World Cup.
Already four new participants in 2026
“ FIFA and its leaders are beginning to consider this idea as a way of giving full meaning to the notion of plurality in footballunderlines the Iberian publication in question.
Infantino always talks about what a celebration the World Cup is, and even more so for the countries that didn’t have the chance to participate. This measure would increase the chances for any corner of the planet to showcase itself during the biggest meeting in international football. »
It remains to measure the impact of such a development. In the light of a 2026 World Cup which will give pride of place to unprecedented participations since Cape Verde, Curaçao, Jordan and even Uzbekistan will then discover the high mass of football for the first time in their history. Remember that the 2030 World Cup, to celebrate the centenary of the very first edition in 1930, will also make a stopover in Uruguay, Argentina and Paraguay.
