Concacaf opposes 64-team World Cup plans for 2030

Concacaf president Victor Montagliani has criticized a proposal to expand the 2030 men's World Cup to 64 teams.

This proposal comes from Conmebol, the South American governing body. It has also faced opposition from Uefa president Aleksander Ceferin and the Asian Football Confederation (AFC).

The tournament will be hosted by Spain, Morocco, and Portugal. The opening matches will take place in Argentina, Paraguay, and Uruguay.

The 2026 World Cup will occur in the United States, Mexico, and Canada. It has already expanded from 32 to 48 teams.

Conmebol wants more participants for the competition's 100-year anniversary. Montagliani disagrees with this idea.

He stated that expanding to 64 teams is not right for the tournament or football overall. He mentioned that national teams, clubs, leagues, and players would be affected.

Montagliani noted that we haven't even started the new 48-team World Cup yet. Therefore, he believes expanding to 64 teams should not be considered.

Concacaf governs football in North America, Central America, and the Caribbean.

In 2017, FIFA decided to expand the 2026 World Cup to 48 teams after a unanimous vote at a FIFA congress.

FIFA's 75th congress will take place in Paraguay on May 15. At this meeting, Conmebol's proposal may be discussed.

If accepted, the 2030 edition would feature 128 matches. This is double the number of games played under the previous format used from 1998 to 2022.

In March, Ceferin called the proposal a "bad idea." AFC president Sheikh Salman bin Ibrahim Al-Khalifa warned it could lead to "chaos."

Salman expressed concern about keeping options open for change. He suggested that if so, someone might push for even more teams—like raising it to 132.

He questioned where that would lead us and warned it could become chaotic.