25JUL

CONMEBOL renews its push for 64 teams in 2030

1 min read

11:57UTC

Alejandro Domínguez restated South America's case for a 64-team 2030 tournament with the 48-team version barely 48 hours finished. FIFA has confirmed nothing.

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Key takeaway

Domínguez is pressing for 64 teams in 2030 before the 48-team tournament has been audited.

Alejandro Domínguez, president of CONMEBOL (the South American Football Confederation), publicly restated the case for a 64-team World Cup in 2030 ¹. The proposal has a specific hook: 2030 marks a century since the first tournament, held in Uruguay in 1930, and CONMEBOL's argument leans on the centenary as grounds for a one-off enlargement.

Gianni Infantino got there first, declaring the 48-team format a success and signalling appetite for 64 , and Domínguez is now pressing that case with the tournament barely finished, while the first 48-team tournament's own record remains unsettled. FIFA (world football's governing body) has confirmed nothing on the proposal, and any decision would run through its Council rather than through a confederation president's public remarks.

Deep Analysis

In plain English

CONMEBOL, the South American football confederation, wants the 2030 World Cup to have 64 teams instead of the current 48. FIFA has not agreed to this or ruled it out. This year's tournament was the first with 48 teams, up from 32, so this is a debate about whether to expand again just one cycle later.

Deep Analysis

Root Causes

CONMEBOL's push for 64 teams in 2030 is tied to South America's own hosting stake: the 2030 World Cup opens with three centenary matches in Uruguay, Argentina and Paraguay before the tournament shifts to Spain, Portugal and Morocco, giving CONMEBOL members a direct commercial interest in a larger format regardless of the competitive case.

Infantino calling the 48-team format "100 percent" right while saying FIFA's committees will still examine 64 teams for 2030 is not a contradiction in FIFA's governance structure: the president can defend a format publicly while committees run a separate technical review, since any 2030 format change requires Council approval FIFA has not yet scheduled.

Escalation

Open: FIFA has not confirmed or rejected the 64-team proposal, and no Council vote has been scheduled.

What could happen next?

Opportunity
South American federations stand to gain commercially and competitively from a larger 2030 field, since Uruguay, Argentina and Paraguay co-host the tournament's opening matches.

Sources:ESPN

Mentions:Alejandro Domínguez →South American Football Confederation →FIFA →Gianni Infantino →Uruguay →World Cup →

First Reported In

Update #45 · A prosecutor for the brawl, an outlet for the goals

ESPN· 21 Jul 2026

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Causes and effects

Caused by

FIFA calls 48 teams right, eyes 64

Domínguez's public restatement builds on Infantino's earlier openness to a 64-team 2030 format.

Occurred 12 Jul 2026

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FIFPRO says one match in five was too hot

FIFPRO's heat data sharpens the workload argument against Dominguez's CONMEBOL push for a 64-team 2030 format.

Occurred 16 Jul 2026

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This Event

CONMEBOL renews its push for 64 teams in 2030

The expansion argument is being made while the evidence from the first 48-team tournament is still unaudited.

Different Perspectives

Real Madrid

Operating internally on the basis Rodri joins, according to David Ornstein's reporting, despite no talks having taken place with Manchester City. The gap between internal planning and actual negotiation is itself notable.

Manchester City

Unwilling to sell Rodri, with manager Enzo Maresca stating he returns to the club after back surgery. No club-to-club talks with Real Madrid are taking place, contradicting the framing of a deal in motion.

CONMEBOL

Backs the move to a 64-team 2030 tournament co-hosted across South America. Has not engaged publicly with FIFPRO's workload or heat-threshold objections drawn from this tournament's data.

FIFA

Points to its 30 June technical and officiating reviews as the authoritative account of the tournament's football, including Collina's rejection of bias claims. Has not publicly responded to the renewed compensation call or disputed FIFPRO's heat-threshold figures.

FIFPRO

Measures a four-degree gap between its own 28C postponement threshold and FIFA's 32C cooling-break trigger, breached in 19% of matches played. Cites a 70-83 match workload projection to oppose the 64-team 2030 format.

Human Rights Watch

Documents 54 immigration-custody deaths before kickoff and two since, and revives the compensation duty FIFA's own advisers identified after Qatar 2022 and never acted on. Treats the pattern as unresolved FIFA liability, not a closed file.