Dwight Yorke hails South Africa’s World Cup breakthrough but warns against 64-team expansion

Dwight Yorke believes South Africa’s landmark run at the first 48-team FIFA World Cup has vindicated the expanded format, but the former Manchester United striker has cautioned that further growth to 64 teams could damage the quality of the tournament.

The ex-Trinidad and Tobago international said the revised structure had given emerging nations a genuine platform, pointing to Bafana Bafana’s historic progress to the knockout phase as one of the defining stories of the competition.

South Africa reached the Round of 32 for the first time in their World Cup history before being eliminated by co-hosts Canada, and their performance was widely hailed as a success. Yorke argued that their campaign underlined why the move from 32 to 48 teams had been worth the risk.

“You would hope that they will give it a proper assessment after this World Cup, but we’ve seen the likes of South Africa getting further into the competition, and it really has been an opportunity for these teams,” Yorke told BOYLE Sports, who offer the latest football odds.

South Africa would have advanced even under old format —

Bafana Bafana not only reached the knockouts for the first time but also finished second in their group. Yorke noted that, on that basis, they would have qualified for the latter stages even under the previous 32-team structure, reinforcing the legitimacy of their achievement rather than portraying it as a product of expansion alone.

Their journey, and similar stories from other nations outside the traditional elite, has been cited by supporters of the 48-team format as evidence that broadening the field can enrich the competition without diluting its core standards.

Yorke acknowledged that there had been significant scepticism before the tournament about increasing the number of participants so dramatically.

“There was a question mark about going from 32 teams at a World Cup to 48, and there was a huge debate about it because we didn’t know how it was going to turn out,” he said.

“It has definitely improved the World Cup in that sense. The only real issue is the length of time and how much football has to be played over the course of such a massive tournament.”

Concerns over proposed 64-team World Cup –

Despite his support for the 48-team event, Yorke expressed concern at reports that FIFA is now studying a further expansion, with a 64-team format under consideration for the 2030 World Cup.

“Does it hurt the actual quality of the competition? That’s the question mark for me over going up again to 64 teams,” he cautioned.

Yorke stressed he understood the desire to open football’s biggest stage to more countries, both for sporting reasons and to reflect the global reach of the game.

“Yes, you want other countries to experience what it’s like being on the world stage,” he said. “It’s good for people to engage with different teams and showcase different cultures because football is global, but you’ve got to be careful. We can’t keep expanding it. We go from 32 to 48 and now potentially 64they’ll want to invite 100 teams next time around.”

Yorke’s comments reflect a growing debate within the sport: while the success of sides such as South Africa has been seized on as a vindication of the 48-team model, there is increasing unease among some former players and observers that there may be a limit to how far the World Cup can expand without undermining its competitive edge.