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| Sportschosun DB |
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| Sportschosun DB |
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| APYonhap News |
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The news that FIFA is looking for the possibility of expanding the number of participating teams in the 2030 World Cup to 64 countries to mark the 100th anniversary of the World Cup is sparking fierce debate in the soccer community and soccer fans.
According to the British daily 'Guardian' and the US daily 'New York Times' on the 7th (local time), FIFA is considering a 'one-time expansion plan' to increase the number of participating teams to 64 at the 2030 World Cup, co-hosted by six countries from three continents (Morocco, Portugal, Spain, Uruguay, Argentina, and Paraguay).
The idea was presented by Ignacio Alonso, president of the Uruguay Football Association, after the FIFA board meeting on the 5th, and most of the participants in the meeting who heard the opinion chose to remain silent, but FIFA President Gianni Infantino showed great interest, local media reported.
Since the first World Cup was held in Uruguay in 1930, the number of teams participating in the World Cup has been adjusted several times. At the 1998 World Cup in France, the number of participating teams expanded from 24 teams to 32, and this system continued until the 2022 World Cup in Qatar. FIFA announced that it will expand the number of participating teams to 48 for the first time at the 2026 World Cup in North and Central America in the United States, Canada, and Mexico.
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| AFP Yonhap News |
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| Sportschosun DB |
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If the number of World Cup participants increases to 64, or a quarter of FIFA's total membership, the number of tickets to the finals allocated to Asia will naturally increase. In the 2026 World Cup qualifying round, which expanded to 48 countries, the Asian quota increased from 4.5 to 8. Under the 64-nation system, 11.5 to 12 chapters are expected to be allocated to Asia. Coincidentally, as of December 2024, China's FIFA ranking is 90th and 13th in Asia. It is a representative country that can benefit from the increase of 64 countries. The Chinese media 'Jiniu Xingwen' wrote 'Good news for Chinese soccer'
The Chinese portal 'Sohu Dotcom' is likely to consider economic and other interests as well as sports factors when FIFA makes a decision on the number of World Cup participants. The World Cup is the most profitable and most watched event in the sport, giving FIFA huge profits, he said, predicting that Infantino may choose 64 countries in terms of World Cup scalability and profitability. Infantino has expanded the number of participating teams in the FIFA Club World Cup in 2025 to 32 countries, and is planning a half-time show like the U.S. Super Bowl in the 2026 World Cup final. The halftime show is directly linked to advertising revenue.
Then 'Excessive expansion can reduce the quality of the game and affect the audience. It is necessary to carefully consider how to balance the relationship between the increase in the number of participating teams and the quality of competition'FIFA will further study the feasibility of the plan. It could be a rare opportunity for Chinese football,' he said.
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| 64 countries participating in the 2030 World Cup finals as predicted by AI. Source = Fox Sports |
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| Sportschosun DB |
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On the 7th, the US sports broadcaster 「Fox Sports」 asked artificial intelligence"Chat GPT" which team would fill the spot if the number of participating countries increased to 64 at the 2030 World Cup. According to 'Chat GPT', China, India, Bangladesh, and Solomon Islands, as well as Korea and Japan, have received the answer that they will win the ticket to the World Cup finals.
According to 'Sohu Dotcom', some netizens who have come across the '64 countries review theory' FIFA is working hard to get China to play in the World Cup', is FIFA waiting for China?responded ' China was the only country to play in the World Cup finals in 2002 when South Korea and Japan in the same Asia co-hosted and won tickets to the finals. As of the sixth round of the third Asian qualifying round for the 2026 North-China World Cup, it was only 2 wins, 4 losses and 6 points, ranking at the bottom of Group C (6th). They will play two consecutive games against Saudi Arabia (away) and Australia (home) on the 20th and 25th of this month.
This article was translated by Naver AI translator.
