The 48-team World Cup hasn't even played its first match, and FIFA is already floating the idea of making the 2030 edition even bigger — 66 national teams, up from 48, with Spain, Morocco and Portugal as the centrepiece hosts.
This isn't a wild rumour from the fringes. The proposal, originally pushed by Conmebol as a way to open the door for nations that rarely reach football's elite level, is now gaining genuine momentum inside FIFA offices and across several confederations. What once got dismissed as an overreach is being taken seriously.
Why this is more than just talk
Gianni Infantino has been consistent on one thing: the World Cup as a global celebration, not just a European and South American club. The 48-team format already delivers on that — Cape Verde, Curaçao, Jordan and Uzbekistan are all heading to North America in 2026. A 66-team tournament simply doubles down on that logic.
Conmebol's fingerprints are all over this. South American football has long argued that the qualification system shuts out too many worthy nations. A larger field fixes that argument overnight, and it gives FIFA a product that's genuinely worldwide in scope rather than concentrated in the usual football powerhouses.
From a betting market perspective, a field of 66 changes everything. Outright winner odds would compress at the top and explode at the bottom, with dozens of debutant nations entering the board for the first time. The value — and the noise — would be in the groups, not the final.
The complications aren't small
Spain's host city situation is already wobbling. Málaga is off the list. Bilbao and San Sebastián are uncertain. Adding 18 more teams to the equation means more games, more venues, more logistics — and those problems need to be solved before any expansion vote means anything.
FIFA won't formally begin organising the 2030 tournament until after July 19, 2026, when the new world champion is crowned in North America. That means the 66-team debate will run hot through the entire 2026 tournament cycle, with every match serving as an argument either for or against going bigger.
- The 2030 World Cup is currently planned for 48 teams across Spain, Morocco and Portugal, with one match each in Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay
- The 66-team proposal originated from Conmebol and is now backed by multiple confederations
- Málaga has already been dropped as a Spanish host city; Bilbao and San Sebastián remain in doubt
- A separate idea to hold the Club World Cup every two years has been shelved — the next edition stays in 2029
For now this is an idea with legs, not a decision with a date. But the fact that it's being discussed seriously inside FIFA rather than laughed off tells you everything about which direction this is heading.
