Fifa consider expanding Club World Cup despite player welfare fears
Fifa’s Club World Cup could expand from 32 teams for future editions despite concerns about the toll on player welfare.
Global player union Fifpro this week sounded the alarm over the impact of the revamped competition on its members, some of whom were left with less than a fortnight to prepare for the new season.
But Fifa will examine increasing the number of clubs for the 2029 Club World Cup and beyond, said vice-president Victor Montagliani.
“I think overall it was a massive success in terms of executing,” Montagliani, who is also president of American and Caribbean confederation Concacaf, told the Leaders in Sport conference in London.
“There’s some lessons learned. One of the things is format. So you know, [we’ll] discuss it with the stakeholders, like the ECA in Europe, others in other jurisdictions.
“Was the format the right format? Do we need to have more clubs or do we have a different variety of clubs in terms of how they qualify? Those are all, I think, important questions to sort of ask and then try to figure out a solution before we get to the next one.”
Fifa cool on 64-team World Cup in 2030
Fifa has also been asked by South American football chiefs to consider expanding the 2030 World Cup to 64 teams, although the proposal appears to lack wider support.
The Fifa Council is not expected to vote on the issue tomorrow, said Montagliani, who added that he remained opposed to the idea for now.
“Our friends in South America want it to be studied. And, you know, we’re always open minded. But yes, I’m in line with some other counterparts, starting with Alexander [Ceferin, Uefa president] in Europe, who don’t think it’s a great idea.
“I haven’t really changed my mind on that, but if there’s a study I’m open to reading it. Of course it could happen because it’s still six [sic] years away, but you know, we still haven’t kicked off on 48 teams, so I think, you know, we should probably temper it.”
2026 World Cup sales ‘through the roof’
The 2026 World Cup, co-hosted by the US, Mexico and Canada, is on track to deliver on its promise of being the biggest edition yet, said Montagliani.
The Canadian said Fifa had been very encouraged by premium sales in particular, and rubbished concerns of empty seats such as those seen at this year’s Club World Cup.
“It will be the case [the biggest World Cup], in a very humble way. You’ve got to put your head down and do the work but I’m very confident in knowing where we are on the spectrum of our planning, seeing how the requests for tickets has already gone. The hospitality sales are through the roof, not only globally but even from Europe. The demand has been very high, and so I’m pretty confident from from that perspective.
“The Club World Cup was brand new. It was massively successful. There were some learnings that we can transfer over to next year – kick-off times – from a technical perspective, but the product is completely different. I mean, there is nothing like the World Cup.”