Doha – Asian Football Confederation (AFC) president Sheikh Salman bin Ibrahim Al Khalifa has strongly opposed South American football body CONMEBOL’s proposal to expand the 2030 FIFA World Cup to 64 teams, warning such a move would lead to “chaos” in the tournament structure.
Speaking on the sidelines of the 35th AFC Congress in Kuala Lumpur on Saturday, Sheikh Salman rejected the expansion plan put forward by CONMEBOL president Alejandro Dominguez earlier this week.
“Personally, I don’t agree,” the Bahraini leader told AFP, insisting the 2030 edition had already settled on 48 teams “so the matter is settled.”
The AFC president warned that continually increasing the tournament size would create significant problems for the competition’s structure and organization.
“If the issue remains open to change, then the door will not only be open to expanding the tournament to 64 teams, but someone might come along and demand raising the number to 132 teams,” said Sheikh Salman. “Where would we end up then? It would become chaos.”
The 2030 World Cup, set to commemorate the centenary of the tournament, is already planned as an unprecedented multi-continental event.
While Spain, Portugal and Morocco will host the majority of matches, three opening games will be staged in South America – in Uruguay, Argentina and Paraguay – recognizing Uruguay as the host of the inaugural 1930 World Cup.
The tournament will feature 48 teams, expanding from the 32-team format used in Qatar 2022. This expansion was already approved for the 2026 World Cup in the United States, Canada and Mexico.
CONMEBOL’s Dominguez formally proposed the further expansion to 64 teams during the South American body’s 80th Congress on Thursday, suggesting it as a one-time increase to celebrate the centennial.
“We are proposing, for the only time, to hold this centennial with 64 teams on three continents, simultaneously, so that all countries have the opportunity to experience a World Cup and so that no one on this planet is left out of this celebration,” Dominguez said.
The South American proposal would likely guarantee all 10 CONMEBOL member nations a place in the tournament. Venezuela is currently the only South American country that has never qualified for a World Cup.
If approved, the expansion would effectively double the tournament size to 128 matches, compared to the 64-game format used from 1998 through 2022.
While Sheikh Salman rejected changes for 2030, he did not dismiss potential format adjustments for future tournaments beyond the 2034 World Cup in Saudi Arabia.
“If we want to discuss subsequent tournaments… that’s a different matter,” he said.
The proposal has received a mixed response from football’s governing bodies. UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin previously dismissed it as a “bad idea,” while FIFA secretary general Mattias Grafstrom said the world governing body would “analyse” the suggestion.
“There are many things that need to be studied, and we will take our time, consult everyone,” Grafstrom said.
Critics argue that expanding to 64 teams would dilute the quality of play and devalue continental qualifying competitions, while supporters suggest it would give more nations the opportunity to participate in football’s premier event.
The idea was initially raised at a FIFA Council meeting in March by Uruguay Football Federation chief Ignacio Alonso, before being formally proposed by CONMEBOL’s Dominguez this week.
FIFA president Gianni Infantino, who participated in Thursday’s CONMEBOL Congress via videoconference, has previously supported tournament expansions during his presidency, which began in 2016, seeking increased revenue for FIFA’s 211 member federations and more opportunities for national teams to qualify.
The final decision on the tournament structure remains with FIFA, which will need to balance celebration of the World Cup’s centenary with maintaining the tournament’s competitive integrity and logistical feasibility.
