Alejandro Domínguez, president of the South American entity, made a request to Gianni Infantino for the centennial edition to exceptionally expand the participants
If approved, the expansion would allow "Argentina, Uruguay, and Paraguay to host at least one full group each," thus strengthening their role within a tournament that will also have venues in Spain, Portugal, and Morocco. Additionally, it would represent a new milestone: the first World Cup in history held across three continents and in six different countries.
The latest increases in participants
Since the France 1998 edition, the World Cup has featured 32 participating teams. That number will expand to 48 in 2026, when the tournament is held in the United States, Mexico, and Canada. Therefore, raising it to 64 would imply a new restructuring in the overall organization and in the qualifying phases. In South America, for example, there are already seven spots allocated for 2026 among the ten teams in the region.
During the 80th CONMEBOL Congress, the president of the entity, Alejandro Domínguez, announced that a formal request was submitted to FIFA for the 2030 World Cup to be played "in an exceptional manner with 64 teams."
During his speech at the event, Domínguez explained that this initiative responds to the special character that the 2030 edition will have, marking 100 years since the first World Cup held in Uruguay in 1930.
Se llevo a cabo el 80° Congreso de CONMEBOL
In that sense, he emphasized: "We are convinced that the centennial celebration will be something unique, because only once do you reach 100 years. And that's why we are proposing for the first time, to carry out this anniversary with 64 teams, across three continents simultaneously. So that all countries have the opportunity to experience a global event, and so that no one on this planet is left out of this celebration that, although played everywhere, is our celebration."
The initiative was originally proposed by Ignacio Alonso
Ignacio Alonso, president of the Uruguayan Football Association (AUF), presented the idea in Marchduring a virtual meeting of the FIFA Council. According to reports, the initiative surprised several participants but was well received. Meanwhile, the newspaper The New York Times reported that FIFA confirmed that "the idea was accepted as FIFA has the duty to analyze any proposal from one of its Council members."
Ignacio Alonso fue el pionero de la idea de los 64 equipos
The rest of Domínguez's speech
Beyond the request for the 2030 World Cup, Domínguez also dedicated part of his intervention to highlighting the advances achieved by South American football: "When we say that our growth exceeded 400% we are not just talking about income, we are talking about development and distribution of resources that spill over into our football." He added: "CONMEBOL is not just a building, CONMEBOL is our people, and together, we have achieved unprecedented growth in South American football."
Alejandro Domínguez resaltó otro logros en su discurso
He also focused on the importance of preserving institutional unity: "Like any organization of this magnitude, it must develop an indispensable condition so that new challenges do not stand in our way. That condition is unity, because if we prioritize our particular interests, very legitimate indeed, and lose sight of the general interest, we run the risk of opening a crack in the ship that carries us all."
Regarding the economic impact in the region, he revealed that in 2024 more than 860 million dollars were distributed in the football of the member countries, and he anticipated a 14% growth for 2025. He also referred to the media expansion of the continental tournaments, noting that "The Libertadores and Sudamericana 2024 accumulated more than 220 million viewers in Latin America, and for the first time both finals were broadcast in 194 countries, including China, a destination we had never reached."
Finally, he announced improvements in the prizes for the tournament champions: "This year, we will pay 24 million dollars, an increase compared to the 23 million we awarded last year. But this won't stop here. We will continue to grow, and we will also increase the prize for the Sudamericana winner by 500,000 dollars, which amounts to 6.5 million."
