Janni Infantino wants to increase the number of participants in the World Cup even further.
FIFA President Gianni Infantino has not denied the idea of expanding the FIFA World Cup to 64 teams. This was reported by Zamin.uz.
The statement came amid the ongoing tournament in the United States, Mexico, and Canada, which features 48 teams for the first time. However, the feasibility of the FIFA chief realizing these global plans remains under serious scrutiny.
Zamin.uz presents details about the new World Cup format and the political controversies surrounding Infantino. In an interview with Blue Sport, the 56-year-old football expert emphasized that the current 48-team tournament has been fully understood and is proceeding successfully.
According to Infantino, the expanded format is enabling new forces to emerge in world football. Notably, nine out of ten African teams advanced to the knockout stage.
For comparison, only five African representatives participated in the previous edition. Moreover, teams from all continents managed to score goals and earn at least one point.
The FIFA president stressed that making the tournament open not only to Europe and South America but to the entire world is crucial in its organization. He believes every country should have the opportunity to aspire to participate in the World Cup.
It should be noted that the proposal to shift to a 64-team format was initially raised in 2025 by Alejandro Dominguez, head of CONMEBOL. He suggested testing this format at the 2030 competition, an idea Infantino also supported.
However, while Infantino desires to expand the tournament’s scale, maintaining his own course has become difficult. A political incident involving Folarin Balogun, the forward of the U.S. national team, has sharply weakened the FIFA chief’s position.
The American forward was shown a red card and ejected during a match against Bosnia and Herzegovina. However, his punishment was unexpectedly delayed, allowing him to play in the crucial match against Belgium.
Later, it emerged that U.S. President Donald Trump personally appealed to Infantino to convert Balogun’s suspension into a conditional one. This situation provoked sharp outrage from football associations and international media outlets.
Many influential publications argue that such political interference in football is unacceptable and that FIFA’s attempts to justify it are illogical. Although Gianni Infantino currently denies facilitating wrongdoing, his position remains under question ahead of the 2027 elections and the prospects of the 2030 World Cup.
