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So, here we are. After a century of matches, and for the first time in history, the World Cup has entered its sixth week. But is it about to get longer? Gianni Infantino didn’t even get through the first of an agonising two-day rest period before dropping the hint that Fifa would be “examining and discussing” the potential for the 2030 tournament to be a 64-team affair. Some may say – not Football Daily, of course – that this was a handy way to move the news cycle on after Balogun-gate, Cable-gate and the ever-growing industry of suspicion that is VAR-gate. But let’s take it at face value: Fifa appears to be giving this some thought and, after years spent expanding virtually every tournament in their jurisdiction, it has previous.
- Fifa considers a 64-team World Cup, says Gianni Infantino, aiming to organise the tournament for the whole world, not just traditional powers.
- Proposed format: 16 groups of four, top two advance to knockouts, eliminating bizarre three-way ties and mutual 3-3 draw scenarios.
- More teams equal more surprises: Cape Verde, Curaçao, Uzbekistan showcased emergent nations and memorable giant-killer moments.
- Expansion adds 24 games across 23 venues in six countries; hints at a possible 211-member global World Cup and hosting headaches.
“When organising a World Cup, it’s important to organise it for the whole world – not just Europe and South America – but effectively the entire world,” tooted Infantino, taking time out from his Insta for a chat with Swiss media. “If you don’t give smaller countries a chance to participate in the World Cup, they’ll lack the incentive to keep improving.” If you ignore the fact that smaller countries do currently have a chance to participate in the World Cup – it’s called qualifying – not even the most avid best-third-place believers can deny that a 64-team edition would be better than one with 48. Unless Fifa adopts a Swiss-style model and cracks on with a couple of massive 32-team league tables (don’t rule it out), there would be 16 groups of four nations, with the top two progressing to the knockouts, just like those hazy days of Qatar, Russia and before. There would be no more dramatic 3-3 draws between Austria and Algeria to ensure both progress on four points. Happy days, right?
More new faces are obviously a good thing. Cape Verde were a revelation. Uzbekistan and Jordan gave it a go. Forgetting the six that followed, Curaçao’s equalising goal against Germany was fun; a world of possibilities would open if you added 16 more teams. This expansion would bring an extra 24 games which, given the plan to host the tournament in 23 venues across six countries and three continents, shouldn’t be a problem for the logistics people either. Imagine, it’s a June day in 2030, you’re watching Spain v India in Madrid, then Madagascar v Colombia in Lisbon, then China v France in Rabat and then Argentina v New Caledonia in Buenos Aires – though take a moment to think of the poor person piloting Gianni’s private jet. Four games a day, for three weeks.
Maybe we should be reading even more into this. More is more in Fifa-land. When Infantino says we should be organising a World Cup “for the whole world”, this could be his soft launch of a truly global World Cup for, say, 2034, with all 211 member nations participating and hosts Saudi Arabia, who are cutting back their spending on sport, wondering what on earth they let themselves in for. At least, then, Italy would get their chance again.
