President of the European Football Association (UEFA), Aleksander Ceferin, believes the decision to expand the World Cup to 64 teams in the 2030 edition would be a “bad idea.”
The upcoming 2026 Mundial, which will be held in the United States, Mexico, and Canada, will see the number of teams increase from 32 to 48.
However, during the last FIFA Council meeting in March, Uruguayan Football Association President Ignacio Alonso proposed expanding the tournament further.
FIFA said it was “obliged to study” the proposal, a move criticized by UEFA President Ceferin during the UEFA Congress in Belgrade.
“Perhaps it’s more surprising to me than to you. I think it’s a bad idea,” he said. “I don’t think it’s a good idea for the World Cup itself, or even for our qualifying campaign.”
The Slovenian added, “So I don’t support this idea. I don’t know where it came from. It’s strange that we didn’t know anything about it before it was put to the FIFA Council.”
The 2030 World Cup will be held across three continents, with Portugal, Spain, and Morocco serving as the main hosts.
Argentina, Uruguay, and Paraguay will also host three matches to celebrate the tournament’s centenary, as the first World Cup was held in Uruguay in 1930.
This decision paved the way for Saudi Arabia to host the 2034 edition.
Meanwhile, Africa will have nine representation at the 2026 World Cup.
