An expanded 64-team competition offers two key advantages: a more logical structure and greater chances for developing football nations.
It is the latter point that the governing body’s president is highlighting, particularly following Cape Verde’s impressive performances.
The organization faced scrutiny ahead of the event, with doubts raised about whether the extra participants would be strong enough.
Then Cape Verde held Spain and Uruguay to draws, securing second place in their group. The Blue Sharks also pushed Argentina to the limit in the round of 16, forcing extra time before narrowly falling 3-2.
But these underdog narratives need to be weighed against the tournament’s overall competitive intensity.
Haiti, Iraq, Jordan, Panama, Tunisia and Uzbekistan all failed to secure a single point—and this summer’s group phase offered very little risk for the leading sides.
Adding more teams would make it nearly impossible to see a repeat of top-seeded nations like Belgium (2022), Germany (2018), Spain (2014), Italy (2010), and France (2002) crashing out before the knockout rounds.
Another issue is the allocation of the new berths.
Looking at this year’s qualifying results, these are the extra nations that would have secured a spot in a 64-team 2026 World Cup (with their world ranking at the tournament’s kick-off shown in brackets):
AFC: Indonesia (118), Oman (79), United Arab Emirates (68).
Uefa: Denmark (21), Italy (12), Poland (36).
Concacaf: Honduras (65), Jamaica (71), Suriname (125).
Conmebol: Bolivia (77), Venezuela (49).
OFC: New Caledonia (151).
Africa: Burkina Faso (62), Cameroon (44), Gabon (86), Nigeria (26).
Six of those sides sit within the top 50 of the global rankings—three from Europe, two from Africa, and one from South America.
And that is precisely the sticking point. The Asian and Concacaf confederations are weaker, a fact underscored by this year’s results.
Nine of Africa’s ten representatives advanced from the group stage. In contrast, only two of Asia’s nine teams progressed, and just three of the six Concacaf sides—the tournament co-hosts—moved on.
New Zealand, who earned a single point and finished last in their group, are the only Oceania nation ranked in the world’s top 150.
One could argue that any further expansion should allocate more spots to Europe simply to maintain a competitive balance.
Yet, on the flip side, some would contend that welcoming more nations into the World Cup ultimately helps the sport grow in those regions.
The president will promote the larger format as beneficial for the world game, but there are legitimate concerns about whether it benefits the competition itself.
Nearly one-third of the governing body’s 211 member associations would be included.
Would the group stage simply turn into a glorified inter-confederation qualification process for what is, in essence, a knockout tournament?
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