Infantino allowed the expansion of the World Cup to 64 participants

After the end of the 2026 World Cup (2026 World Cup), the International Football Federation (FIFA) will consider the possibility of increasing the number of participants in the tournament from 48 to 64 teams. This was announced on July 12 by the president of the organization, Gianni Infantino.

"This issue will certainly be studied and discussed in the relevant committees after this World Cup," he told the Blue Sport channel.

According to Infantino, the expansion of the World Cup to 48 national teams has paid off "100%." The FIFA President noted that teams from all continents demonstrated a high level of play, and each team scored at least one point or scored a goal.

"This is a huge success — 48 teams. All the teams showed a high level of play. <...> This just shows how important it is to involve all the teams [in the World Cup] — to give them the opportunity to participate," Infantino said.

The FIFA president stressed that the World Cup should remain a tournament for all continents, not just Europe and South America. In his opinion, the opportunity to get to the World Cup motivates small football countries to develop national teams and raise the level of the game.

Infantino also said that he is in constant contact with US President Donald Trump, who, according to him, positively assesses the holding of the World Cup. The head of FIFA expressed the hope that together they will present the trophy to the winner of the World Cup in the final of the tournament.

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Earlier that day, all the pairs of the 1/2 finals of the 2026 World Cup were determined. In the quarterfinals, Argentina defeated Switzerland with a score of 3:1. In the framework of another meeting of the 1/4 finals, the England national team was stronger than Norway in overtime — the final score was 2:1. Now the Argentine and English football players will compete for reaching the finals in a face-to-face match, which is scheduled for July 15.

The second place in the decisive stage of the tournament will be played by the national teams of France and Spain. Their semifinal match is scheduled for July 14th. Before that, the French beat the Moroccans (2:0), and the Spaniards beat the Belgians (2:1).