FIFA has started studying the impact of expanding the 2030 World Cup from 48 teams to 64.
According to a document seen by Reuters, the world football body wants an independent agency to examine whether a bigger tournament would benefit the game.
The 2026 World Cup already increased from 32 teams to 48. The change added more groups and an extra knockout round.
Last year, South American football body CONMEBOL proposed a 64 team World Cup for the 2030 edition. The idea was to allow more countries to take part in the tournament’s 100th anniversary celebrations.
FIFA is now moving forward with a detailed study.
“FIFA wishes to appoint an independent agency to determine whether and how expanding the FIFA World Cup from 48 to 64 participating national teams, starting with the 2030 edition, would impact on the tournament proposition,” the research brief said.
The study will look at both the benefits and the challenges of a larger competition.
It will examine whether a bigger tournament can improve the World Cup or whether problems such as weaker competition, a crowded football calendar, difficult organisation and market saturation would outweigh the benefits.
“The final recommendation should demonstrate not only whether a 64 team tournament can generate incremental value, but whether that value is sustainable,” the document said.
FIFA plans to choose the independent agency on August 14. The selected group will have four weeks to complete its report before a September 11 deadline.
The study comes at a time when FIFA is also facing criticism over its proposal to create a 20 billion dollar company to manage the World Cup and other competitions with outside investors.
The 2030 World Cup will be hosted by Morocco, Portugal and Spain. Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay will each stage one match to mark the tournament’s 100th anniversary.
FIFA has not yet commented on the report.
