The ink on the 48-team World Cup final barely dried before South American football's governing body was already lobbying for more. CONMEBOL President Alejandro Dominguez took to social media on Monday calling on FIFA to expand the 2030 tournament to 64 teams — a format that would nearly double the field from the original 32.
"It will be a great opportunity for football, to celebrate the World Cup's centenary with a 64-team tournament," Dominguez wrote. The centenary angle is his main lever here, and it's not a bad one. The 2030 edition marks 100 years since Uruguay hosted the inaugural tournament in 1930, which is exactly why Argentina, Uruguay, and Paraguay are already confirmed to host the opening ceremonial matches — even though Spain, Portugal, and Morocco are the primary co-hosts.
What a 64-team tournament would actually mean
It would mean 96 group-stage matches before the knockouts even begin. More games, more revenue, more broadcast rights, more everything — which is precisely why FIFA will at least take the call. Whether they act on it before 2030 is another matter entirely.
The 48-team format that just concluded in North America was already a stretch logistically. Adding another 16 nations on top of that, across a multi-continent hosting setup spanning South America and Europe, would be an organisational undertaking without precedent. Group stage odds, outright winner markets, and qualification betting would all shift considerably — more teams means more noise and, frankly, more upsets.
FIFA has been contacted for comment. They haven't said yes. They haven't said no. And Dominguez knows that the centenary edition of football's biggest event is probably the one moment FIFA might actually listen to a pitch this bold.
