CONMEBOL proposes 64-team World Cup in 2030

South America's soccer governing body has proposed hosting a 64-team FIFA World Cup in 2030 when the event celebrates its 100-year anniversary.

Spain, Portugal and Morocco are the hosts for that centennial anniversary World Cup, with opening matches taking place in South America in Uruguay, Argentina and Paraguay.

"We are convinced that the centennial celebration will be unique, because 100 years are only celebrated once," CONMEBOL president Alejandro Dominguez said Thursday.

"And that's why we are proposing, for the first time, to hold this anniversary with 64 teams, on three continents simultaneously. So that all countries have the opportunity to live a global experience, and so that no one on this planet is left out of this celebration which, even though it's played everywhere, is our party."

The World Cup is expanding from 32 teams to 48 for the 2026 edition in the United States, Canada and Mexico.

A 64-team tournament would mean 128 matches, doubling the 64 played in Qatar in 2022.

FIFA, the global soccer governing body, said last month that it will review the proposal to expand the 2030 event to 64 teams.

"A proposal to analyze a 64-team FIFA World Cup to celebrate the centenary of the FIFA World Cup in 2030 was spontaneously raised by a FIFA Council member in the 'miscellaneous' agenda item near the end of the FIFA Council meeting held on March 5, 2025," a FIFA spokesperson confirmed to Reuters.

The New York Times reported that the proposal was made by Uruguayan delegate Ignacio Alonso.