Swiss Gianni Infantino, President of the International Federation of Association Football (FIFA), stated that he can imagine another expansion of the number of teams participating in the men's World Cup to 64 teams, noting that the idea should be considered 'definitely' after the end of the current edition of the tournament.

The current 2026 edition saw the number of participating teams increase from 32 to 48, but the numerical calculations of this system resulted in 8 third-place finishers from the group stage advancing to the new round of 32.

Moving to a 64-team system would not mean more matches per team, but would re-establish the idea of only the top two teams from each group advancing to the knockout stages.

The Swiss website 'Blue Sport' reported on Saturday, quoting the FIFA President as saying: 'The whole world must be allowed to dream of the World Cup, not only Europe and South America.'

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The FIFA President described the current expansion as a 'great success'... And the 56-year-old Infantino added: 'You can see that the quality of the teams is generally very high and is getting higher and higher and higher all over the world.'

It is noted that the current expansion resulted in a record 104 matches over 5 weeks, while the 64-team system would require 128 matches in the tournament.

The 2030 edition is scheduled to be held in Spain, Portugal, Morocco, Argentina, Uruguay, and Paraguay, where South American officials have already proposed the idea of 64 teams.

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