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FIFA president wants to make major changes to the World Cup
FIFA president Gianni Infantino has said before that he thinks the World Cup should be expanded to 40 teams and he still believes that's the case. He also is open to more joint-hosted World Cups, potentially with as many as three different countries hosting.
"These two topics will certainly be on the table for discussion," Infantino said.
Many people have pegged the United States as the favorites to host the 2026 World Cup, in part because CONCACAF (the confederation for North America, Central America and the Caribbean) hasn't hosted the event since 1994. But Mexico and Canada have also expressed interest in putting on the tournament and Infantino wants the FIFA Council to consider a two or three country tournament when they meet in October.
"So, there is, I would say, no limit to whatever is good for football. We will see, but it's true that CONCACAF did not have the World Cup for a long time."
While Infantino simply wants the FIFA Council to consider and explore the future of joint-hosted World Cups, his stance on a 40-team World Cup is clear. He thinks it's something that has to happen, and potentially as soon as 2026.
"For the moment I think everything is open. My opinion on the 40 teams has not changed.
"We have seen it again at the Euro in France with eight more teams, what kind of enthusiasm this generated in many, many countries. We need to realize that these kinds of events are more than just a competition, they are real social events in the whole world."
The Euros expanded from 16 to 24 teams, although reviews of the new format were mixed. Infantino has said before that he thinks it's important to give more teams the chance to play on the biggest stage and that involving more nations would be good for the sport.
Changes can't be made until the 2026 World Cup because the 2018 and 2022 events have hosts who are already working on how to host the event with 32 teams, but the bidding process for 2026 has yet to begin and guidelines for the tournament have not yet been set. However, FIFA will do so in the coming months so they have to make a decision on host rules and the number of teams in the tournament soon, or push any changes to 2030.
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