2030 World Cup expanded to 64 teams? After UEFA's opposition, the AFC's opposition also came

South Americans are hotly debated over the proposal to increase the number of teams in the 2030 tournament finals, which will celebrate the 100th anniversary of the FIFA World Cup, to 64, and the president of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) has voiced opposition.

AFC President Sheikh Salman

AFP reported on the 12th Beijing time that AFC President Sheikh Salman bin Ibrahim Al Khalifa opposed the idea of the South American Football Confederation (CONMEBOL) asking to expand the 2030 World Cup to 64 teams, which "will only cause chaos." ”

Salman, who attended the AFC Congress in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, on the same day, said in an interview with the AFC about the South American Football Confederation's proposal: "I personally cannot approve of it. "Having 48 countries participating in the 2030 World Cup is "something that has already been decided."

"If there continues to be room for change in the number of participating countries, not only is it possible to increase to 64 countries, but there may be requests to increase it to 132 countries," he argued. ”

The first FIFA World Cup was held in Uruguay in 1930, and 32 countries participated in the finals starting with the 1998 tournament in France, but the 2026 tournament co-hosted by three countries (the United States, Canada, and Mexico) from China and North Korea has expanded to 48 countries.

The 2030 World Cup will be co-hosted by Spain, Portugal in Europe and Morocco in Africa. In addition, to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the World Cup, Uruguay, Argentina, and Paraguay in South America will also host one of the 104 matches each, and for the first time in the history of the World Cup, the tournament will be held in six countries on three continents.

But towards the end of the FIFA Council meeting held online early last month, Uruguayan Football Federation president Ignacio Alonso sparked controversy by proposing to increase the number of participating countries to 64 in 2030 only, in an effort to mark the 100th anniversary of the World Cup.

According to foreign media reports, this proposal seems to be supported by FIFA President Gianni Infantino, who aims to develop the football industry and develop global football, and expand the scale of various international competitions. However, if the number of participating countries expands to 64 and the number of matches and the duration of the tournament increases, the burden on the players will increase, and the World Cup qualifiers on all continents will become meaningless or lead to a loss of attention, so there are no underestimates to be underestimated.

UEFA president Alexander Cepelin also said categorically that the requirement to pit 64 teams against each other in the World Cup finals was a "bad idea" and "really surprising, I don't think it's appropriate".