"Next World Cup to feature 64 nations" — South American football confederation president makes surprise announcement; local media: "Realization of the plan becomes more likely"

*This content was translated by AI.

Alejandro Dominguez (Paraguay), President of the South American Football Confederation (CONMEBOL), announced that the number of teams qualifying for the 2030 FIFA World Cup finals, to be held in Spain, Portugal, and Morocco four years from now, will increase to as many as 64 nations. This represents an expansion beyond the current 2026 FIFA North American World Cup, which features 48 teams compared to the previous 32-team format.

According to South American sports outlet Bola VIP on the 22nd (Korean time), Do Ming-ge-seu (Chairman) stated via his social media that "the next World Cup will be held in our backyard. The 2030 World Cup will begin in Uruguay, Argentina, and Paraguay," adding that it is "a great opportunity to commemorate the centenary of the World Cup with participation from 64 nations." In reality, matches for the 2030 World Cup are scheduled to be held one each in Uruguay — host of the inaugural tournament a century ago — as well as Argentina and Paraguay.

Do Ming-ge-seu (Chairman) remarked, "We have already experienced a historic World Cup. The North American tournament, held for the first time with 48 teams, was a successful event," and further indicated that the World Cup four years from now will expand to include 16 more nations than the North American edition, reaching a total of 64 participating countries.

The possibility of expanding the next World Cup to 64 nations has already been reported by several major international outlets. Mid-month, The Guardian (UK) and ESPN (US) cited an interview between Gianni Infantino, FIFA President, with Swiss media outlet Bluewin, in which In Pan-ti-no (Chairman) emphasized that "every nation should be able to dream of participating in the World Cup," warning that "if small nations are not given opportunities to participate, they will lose motivation to continue developing." With this statement, Do Ming-ge-seu (Chairman) has effectively confirmed the expansion of the 2030 World Cup to a 64-nation format.

Bola VIP noted, "Of course, the final decision on expanding to 64 nations rests with FIFA President Infantino," but added that "Do Ming-ge-seu (Chairman)'s recent remarks have significantly increased the likelihood of expanding the number of participating countries in the next World Cup. CONMEBOL has long advocated for such an expansion to meaningfully commemorate the centenary of the World Cup within South America and broaden participation opportunities for South American nations."

If the next World Cup indeed proceeds with a 64-nation format, Asia's number of qualifying spots — which increased from 4.5 to 8.5 during the North American tournament — is likely to grow by approximately three additional slots. The complex scenario of advancing to the knockout stage as third-place finishers in their groups, which required extensive analysis by Hong Myung-bo's team until the final moments, will be eliminated. Instead, only group winners and runners-up will advance from the group stage to the Round of 32, as in previous editions. While group-stage matches were previously held up to Group H in the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar, the North American tournament introduced Groups I, J, K, and L; the next edition will further add Groups M, N, O, and P.

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*This content was translated by AI.