How can the World Cup be with 64 teams?

If there's anything we've learned from Gianni Infantino's 10 years at the helm of FIFA, it's that more is better. Infantino appears to have set course for a 64-team World Cup. It is now possible to follow the agenda on BBC Turkish on WhatsApp.

Renewed Club World Cup, expanded World Cup and inflated ticket prices. And of course, there's the Super Bowl-style spectacle that caused halftime in the World Cup final to last 27 minutes and 22 seconds. Infantino appears to have set course for a 64-team World Cup.

In defense of this dream, Infantino also expressed his opinion: "If you do not give small countries the chance to participate, their motivation to continue to improve themselves will decrease." But of course, smaller countries are not deprived of this chance. If they're good enough, they make it through to the qualifiers. Cape Verde, Curaçao, Jordan and Uzbekistan are examples of these.

In fact, just from a tournament format perspective, 64 teams makes mathematical sense. The top two teams among the teams spread across sixteen groups will advance to the knockout stage. However, there will be no obligation to determine a list among the third teams.

So, could there be another logical reason for increasing the number to 64 teams? First, let's start with how we got here. The 2030 World Cup will mark the 100th anniversary of the first World Cup held in Uruguay.

Morocco, Portugal and Spain will host the tournament. However, the first three opening matches will be played in Uruguay, Argentina and Paraguay, specially for the centenary. CONMEBOL, the governing body of South American football, wants more matches.

CONMEBOL requested that the match schedule of the additional four groups, which will be formed by increasing the number to 64 teams, be given to them in April 2025. Its president, Alejandro Dominguez, said this would ensure that "no one in the world is left out of the party." UEFA President Aleksander Ceferin called it a "bad idea" for both the tournament and the qualification process. Victor Montagliani, president of North and Central American and Caribbean football's governing body (Concacaf), also said last year that this would harm the "wider football ecosystem". Asian Football Confederation (AFC) President Sheikh Salman bin Ibrahim Al Khalifa also expressed the same opinion, saying further expansion could lead to "chaos".

However, none of these objections mean that this will not happen with the decision taken by the 37 members of the FIFA Council. A 64-team tournament has two main advantages: a more natural format and more opportunities for developing countries. Infantino highlights this second approach, with particular reference to the heroic story of the Cape Verde Islands.

Before the tournament, FIFA was criticized that some of the teams expanded to 48 teams would not be competitive. Cape Verde came second in its group, drawing with Spain and Uruguay. The team, known as the Blue Sharks, managed to take the match against Argentina to extra time in the last 16 rounds.

Even though they lost with a score of 3-2, it gave Messi and his friends great fear. But the heroic tales must also be balanced with the competitive aspect of the tournament. Haiti, Iraq, Jordan, Panama, Tunisia and Uzbekistan could not get any points from the tournament.

For the cup's big names, their matches carried minimal risk. If more teams are added, surprises such as big teams not making it to the knockout stages become harder to repeat. The question also arises to whom the extra places will be given. According to this year's qualification results, if the 2026 tournament were played with 64 teams, the additional countries that would qualify for the World Cup would be: Six of these teams are in the top 50 in the FIFA world rankings; three from Europe, two from Africa and one from South America.