FIFA President backs 48-team World Cup with 16 groups of 3

After taking over from Sepp Blatter, new FIFA President Gianni Infantino is looking to make his mark on the soccer world by backing a new 48-team World Cup.

The AFP news agency reported today that FIFA President Gianni Infantino will officially back a change to the World Cup format. The current format of 32 teams, in eight groups of four would be replaced by 48 teams in 16 groups of three.

During his campaign to take over FIFA he touted a 40-team World Cup, but seems to be dreaming even larger now. Two weeks ago he had commented, “I like 48 because it gives a particular flavor, but I’m still really torn,” before the breaking news today.

That is a massive increase. The exact format would still be open for debate. One early idea was having a number of countries start the tournament with a one-game playoff. Meanwhile the bigger countries would get a bye into the group stage, similar to the format of the Champions League.

However, it seems odd to ask an extra 16 country’s teams, staff and fans to travel to the host location only to go home after one match. Either way, the match total for a World Cup would climb from 64 up into the 80-90 range. Furthermore, the World Cup could end up lasting six weeks now — something the big clubs will not favor.

The more likely option would feature 16 groups of three, giving each team at least two matches, before advancing to a second group stage of 32 teams or a large knockout phase.

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Infantino stated a primary motivation behind the change was to increase the reach of the game outside the sport’s traditional power bases. The FIFA Council will meet over Jan. 9-10 in Zurich to discuss the proposal and vote.