What is the 64-team FIFA World Cup that CONMEBOL wants in 2030

South American football’s governing body, which goes the acronym CONMEBOL, has officially proposed to expand the 2030 FIFA World Cup to 64 teams.
A Uruguayan delegate first introduced the proposal in March during a FIFA council meeting. Conmebol president Alejandro Domínguez urged the world body on Thursday to add 16 teams to the exing 48-nation tournament so that the 2030 World Cup can be a ‘party’ for all.
“We are convinced that the centennial celebration will be unique because 100 years are celebrated only once,” Domínguez said during his opening speech at the Conmebol Congress.
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Days before, during the UEFA congress, the European football association’s president Aleksander Ceferin called it a ‘bad idea’, saying it ‘won’t be good for the World Cup or the qualification process’. “I do not support it,” he told Serbia’s Mozzart Sport.
Critics say expanding the World Cup to 64 teams will severely dilute the quality of the tournament. For instance, all 10 South American football federation members, including Venezuela who have never qualified for the World Cup, will likely earn direct spots without having to go through qualification.
The 2030 World Cup will already be the most sprawling edition, with matches spread across six nations on three continents. Celebrating the century of the first World Cup, held in Uruguay in 1930, the commemorative matches will be held in Uruguay, Argentina and Paraguay while Spain, Portugal and Morocco will jointly host the rest of the competition.
“That is why we are proposing, for the first time, to hold this anniversary with 64 teams, on three continents simultaneously,” added Domínguez. “This will allow all countries to have the opportunity to live the world experience and so nobody on the planet is left out of the party.”
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