Any further expansion of the World Cup, such as increasing the number of teams participating in the finals to 64, will be discussed after this year’s edition, Fifa president Gianni Infantino said without elaborating.
The 2026 finals in Canada, Mexico and the United States have seen 48 teams for the first time, a decision that was heavily criticized but has not sparked much debate since the tournament began on June 11.
“These are all issues that we will be looking into after the World Cup,” Infantino, who successfully pushed through the expansion of the finals from 32 teams, told Swiss television channel Blue Sport.
He did not elaborate, saying only: “I think it is important that when you want to organize the World Cup, you do it for the whole world – not just Europe and South America, but effectively the whole world.
“Every nation should be allowed to dream of participating in the World Cup. You can see that the quality of the team is very high and it is getting higher, all over the world.
“If you don’t give small countries the chance to participate in the World Cup, they will lack the motivation to keep improving.”
