Gianni Infantino has suggested the World Cup can be opened up to 48 countries by the 2026 edition.
The proposal to expand the competition to 40 teams was part of Infantino’s manifesto when he was elected to succeed the disgraced Sepp Blatter this year.
The idea would mean almost a quarter of Fifa’s 211 members qualifying for its flagship tournament and further increase the demands on the host nation.
These are ideas to find the best solution. We will debate them this month and we will decide everything by 2017,” said Infantino. “They are ideas which we put forward to see which one is the best.”
The World Cup was expanded from 24 teams to 32 in 1994 but most proposals for further expansion involve convoluted mathematical contortions or leave open the possibility of making the group stages unbalanced.