UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin has admitted the attempt to expand the World Cup to 64 teams has surprised him, while dismissing the idea as a “bad idea”.
The World Cup has been played with 32 teams since 1998 and is set to be expanded to 48 for the next tournament in 2026, to be co-hosted by the United States, Mexico and Canada. Earlier in
March, FIFA held a video conference call where a representative from Uruguay floated the idea of expanding to 64 teams by 2030 to mark the tournament’s centenary. Ceferin
was present at the meeting and, เล่นบาคาร่า UFABET เว็บตรง ค่าคอมสูง speaking to reporters during a UEFA meeting in midweek, said:
“I think it’s a bad idea.” The Slovenian began: “The proposal would be a surprise to me, even more so than to you. “
It’s not a good idea for a World Cup final or for the qualifiers for the different continents. I do not support this plan. “
I don’t know where this idea came from. It’s strange that we didn’t know anything before the proposal came up at the meeting,”
Ceferin said. However, he is not opposed to a new 32-team Club World Cup, which will be held in the middle of this year: “It’s something that has to happen. “
European clubs want it that way. I don’t see the Club World Cup as a competitor to ours. It just means that some players will have to play more games.”