After widespread complaints and consternation around the 2026 FIFA World Cup from European fans, commentators, and certain domestic sportswriters, there’s no question that this year’s tournament has been a gigantic, tremendous success.
The group stage alone set an attendance record for any World Cup, as fans from around the world traveled to the United States to see their teams play. Local fans turned out in full force as well, with neutral fans spending gigantic sums of money on tickets just to see the top level of international soccer.
Ratings have been massive, with the U.S. men’s national team breaking records for most-watched English-language soccer broadcast during their loss to Belgium.
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One of the changes to the format in 2026 was the expansion to 48 teams from the traditional 32. While many purists were skeptical, for the most part, it’s been viewed as a success. Though it limits the likelihood of a major tournament favorite going out in the Group Stage, it’s allowed smaller countries to participate and in some cases, become surprising fan-favorites. Cape Verde, for example, not only advanced past the first round, but pushed Argentina to the brink.
And FIFA, an organization never shy about looking to enhance its financial picture, wants to take advantage. Gianni Infantino, FIFA’s president, acknowledged that discussions will start immediately about future expansion.
“This is certainly an issue that will be looked at and discussed in the relevant committees after this World Cup,” he told Swiss broadcaster Blue Sport when asked about reports of a 64-team format. “When you organize a World Cup, it’s important that you organize it for the whole world. It’s not just Europe and South America, but the entire world, effectively. Every nation should be able to dream of taking part in the World Cup.
“We can see that the quality of the teams is extremely high, and it’s getting higher and higher everywhere in the world. If you don’t give smaller countries the chance to participate in the World Cup, they also lose the incentive to keep improving.”
That makes some sense, both competitively and financially. More teams means more games. More games means more broadcasts, higher fees, and more fans buying tickets. But Infantino is also correct that, for soccer’s international governing body, encouraging more participation and investment is important and valuable.
That said, there are two other major issues that arise from a 64-team format. The years-long qualifying format will become a bit of a farce, as virtually every big country would now qualify easily. And, for those same angry Europeans, how many countries have the number of venues necessary to hold a 64-team tournament in just over a month?
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The answer? Well, it’s pretty much just the United States. A World Cup that large could have 128 matches, if FIFA continues with a 32-team second round. And if they want to keep the current length, a necessity given the club season schedule, that’s 128 matches over just 38 days. FIFA used 16 venues to host the current 104 match tournament. Expansion would likely mean another four stadiums, pushing it to 20.
The United Kingdom has 11 stadiums with a capacity of more than 60,000 seats. Spain has just five, with one just over 60k. Germany has four, while Italy and France have just two each. So you’d have to combine the UK, Spain and Germany to reach 20 large venues.
The US, meanwhile, has roughly 75 stadiums with a 60,000 seat capacity. It has the advantage of being one country, minimizing travel hassles between the UK and continental Europe. And with that many large, modern stadiums that don’t require significant updates, FIFA can sell the most tickets while minimizing costs to the host nation.
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So should the US become the permanent World Cup site? Other countries and federations would surely object, but the story of the 2026 event has been that America and its people have been fantastic hosts to visiting fans. Maybe the USMNT’s missed opportunity in a home tournament won’t be as big of a frustration as it seemed.
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