What happened
FIFA president Gianni Infantino confirmed the federation is reviewing a proposal to grow the World Cup to 64 teams from 2030 onward, CryptoBriefing reported. The idea originated with South American confederation CONMEBOL earlier in the cycle and has since been discussed at the FIFA Council level without moving to a binding vote. The 2026 edition, hosted across 16 North American cities, is already locked at 48 teams and 104 matches, up from 32 teams and 64 matches in Qatar 2022.
A jump to 64 teams would push the match count past 128 and stretch the tournament calendar by roughly a week. Infantino's team has not published a formal timeline, but any format change for 2030 would need to clear the FIFA Council and, on precedent, the executive committee well before the qualifying draw. The 2030 edition is scheduled to be co-hosted by Spain, Portugal, and Morocco, with three opening matches in South America to mark the tournament's centenary.
Why it matters
The World Cup is the single largest wagering event on the sports betting calendar. Qatar 2022 drew an estimated $35B in global bets across regulated and gray-market channels, per H2 Gambling Capital figures cited by industry trackers, and crypto-denominated operators captured a growing share of that flow. Stake, Rollbit, and BC.
Game all posted record monthly volumes during the November-December 2022 window, and the trend held through Euro 2024. A 64-team format changes the math in two ways. More matches means more betting slips, more parlays, and a longer promotional window for operators.
And a broader field, drawing in nations with limited World Cup history, expands the addressable market for fan-token issuers like Chiliz, whose Socios platform hosts tokens for federations including Argentina, Portugal, and Brazil. Bigger tournament, bigger surface area for both sides of the trade.