South American Football Confederation wants 2030 World Cup to have 64 teams

South American football does not want to organize the 2030 World Cup qualifiers.

The 2030 World Cup is set to be the most complex finals ever, with the tournament being held across three continents to mark the 100th anniversary of the tournament. Spain, Portugal and Morocco are co-hosts, but they have agreed to cede three matches to Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay (one each) to mark the historic milestone.

Uruguay hosted the first tournament in 1930. Therefore, CONMEBOL believes that the 2030 World Cup should expand the number of participating teams to 64 to create a unique tournament that only appears once in this century.

"We propose, just once, to host the 2030 World Cup with 64 teams, on three continents at the same time, so that every country has the opportunity to experience the global atmosphere, and no one on this planet is left behind in a football festival that belongs to all of us," said Mr. Dominguez.

FIFA has said it would consider expanding the 2030 World Cup to 64, after a representative from Uruguay – which will host a match in the tournament – ​​raised the idea in March.

The increase in teams also means more matches. The World Cups from 1998 to 2022 had only 64 matches, this number will increase to 104 matches in 2026. With 64 teams, a total of 128 matches will be played.

CONMEBOL wants to expand the World Cup to ensure all 10 of its member nations qualify for the 2030 tournament. However, of the three South American co-hosts of the 2030 World Cup, each will host just one match, with the rest of the tournament taking place mainly in Morocco, Portugal and Spain.

Therefore, any idea of ​​expanding the number of teams participating in the 2030 World Cup would need the support of UEFA, an important area of ​​world football. UEFA President Aleksander Čeferin has opposed the idea of ​​expanding the number of teams participating in the 2030 World Cup to 64.

However, with what happened at the Club World Cup 2025 and World Cup 2026, FIFA tends to support the expansion of tournaments. For the Asian region, the opportunity for Vietnam to participate in the World Cup 2030 will also be greater if the number of teams is increased to 64.

Source: https://znews.vn/ldbd-nam-my-muon-world-cup-2030-co-64-doi-post1544904.html