64 team World Cup, 2030 World Cup, FIFA Trump Tower meeting, Gianni Infantino met with South American delegates

The football world is in a spin with multiple reports stating FIFA president Gianni Infantino met with a South American delegation at Trump Tower in New York to discuss expanding the men’s World Cup to 64 teams.

Next year’s FIFA World Cup in the United States, Canada and Mexico will be the first to consist of 48 teams, having previously been a 32-team competition since the 1998 edition in France.

But Infantino is allegedly exploring the idea of growing the 2030 World Cup even further, doubling the amount of nations taking part from the 2022 tournament in Qatar.

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Spain, Portugal and Morocco will host in five years time, in the first World Cup to be played across multiple continents.

It will also mark 100 years since the inaugural World Cup, held in Uruguay, and FIFA hatched a plan to play matches in South America a as well to mark the centenary.

Uruguay, Paraguay and Argentina are set to hold one-off matches in the 2030 World Cup, but several reports suggest president of the South American region, Alejandro Dominguez, and the three national association presidents are interested in the 64-team model to allow them to host entire group stages.

The suggestion is that 16 groups of four nations would play group matches with top two from each group advancing to the Round of 32 that would begin the knockout rounds.

The entire tournament would consist of 128 matches, double the amount staged in Qatar three years ago.

The Uruguayan Football Association president, Ignacio Alonso, formally presented the idea at a FIFA Council meeting in March, and he was in attendance at Trump Tower alongside two heads of state – his nation’s president Yamandu Orsi and Paraguay president Santiago Pena.

Argentina Football Association president Chiqui Tapia was also present in New York, as representatives of the three countries got to together to discuss how they might bring the concept to life.

Dominguez had said previously that a 64-team World Cup would be a one off to celebrate the 100-year milestone.

“Every year, it is our birthday. I am going to give you an example – not too long ago, I turned 50 and my family prepared a totally different party. I would like to invite you to think outside the box,” he said in May.

Greater participation may appeal to smaller nations, who rarely or never qualify, as it would not only get them a greater chance of playing in a World Cup, but also allow them to gain an increase in revenue.

The proposition has not gone down well in Europe or North America, however.

UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin said it was a “bad idea”, that would diminish the quality of the World Cup and undermine the qualifying journey.

CONCACAF president Victor Montagliani expressed similar sentiments, saying: “They [FIFA] can study all they want, but it just doesn’t feel right.”

Both Ceferin and Montagliani are FIFA vice-presidents, and it is obvious there is disconnect with Infantino.

The next FIFA Council meeting is in Zurich, Switzerland next month, but a 64-team World Cup is not on the agenda.

Even if it was a FIFA source told The Guardian, that any possible vote would be dead in the water.

“Gianni would not get that vote through Council even if he wanted to,” the source said.

“The overwhelming feeling around the table – and not just in Europe – is that 64 teams would damage the World Cup.

“There’d be too many uncompetitive matches and it would risk damaging the business model.”

Ceferin and Montagliani have joined forces to fight against FIFA before.

They strongly opposed Infantino’s proposal to turn the World Cup into a biennial event.

UEFA have also been at loggerheads with FIFA over the Club World Cup, which debuted its revamped format earlier this year, as it challenges the supremacy of its Champions League and makes the calendar even busier.

FIFA declined to comment on the details of meeting, but Infantino took to Instagram, where he said the meeting was a “happy and important day”.