The idea for a tournament with even more teams causes a sensation before the upcoming FIFA meeting. The DFB boss has a clear opinion.
The German Football Association (DFB) has clearly positioned itself against the idea of expanding the 2030 World Cup to 64 teams. “We will not support this proposal because I am deeply convinced that we would not do the tournament with it,” said DFB President Bernd Neuendorf before the upcoming FIFA Congress. “I think the proposal from a sporty and organizational point of view is not feasible and will not raise my hand for this.”
The idea for analyzing a World Cup with 64 teams due to the 100th anniversary was brought up in FIFA-Council at the beginning of March by the Uruguayian association president Ignacio Alonso. “The idea was noted because the FIFA is obliged to check any proposal by one of its council members,” said a spokesman for the FIFA World Association.
At the congress on Thursday in Asunción/Paraguay, the topic is currently not on the official agenda. Before the meeting of the FIFA member associations, the Council around Neuendorf comes together again.
In advance, the DFB boss pointed out the “serious consequences for the national leagues”. An expansion would “inevitably extend the tournament phase,” said the 63-year-old. “And of course it would also be an enormous physical burden for the players who, in my view, cannot be responsible.”
While the South American Association of Conmebol supports the proposal from Uruguay, the project at the Asian Confederation AFC and the Central and North American Association Concacaf will encounter resistance. Uefa President Aleksander Ceferin also recently criticized the plans as a “bad idea”. Some members of the Council were surprised by the “spontaneous” objection under the point “different”. It was “strange that we didn’t know anything about it beforehand,” said Ceferin.
Uruguay is a co-host of the 2030 World Cup, and the tournament is held in Argentina, Paraguay, Portugal, Spain and Morocco. The field of participants for the 2026 World Cup in the USA, Canada and Mexico was already increased from 32 to 48 teams under the direction of FIFA President Gianni Infantino.