The push for a 64-team World Cup was an attempt to start a domino effect, but the first domino refused to fall. The proposal from South America failed to gain any traction because it was met with immediate and unified opposition, preventing the political momentum that has driven past expansions.
For an expansion to succeed, it typically requires a few key “dominoes” to fall in line. First, the FIFA President must show support. Second, a few influential confederations must see a benefit. This creates a coalition that can persuade the rest of the FIFA Council to vote in favor.
In this case, none of the dominoes fell. While President Gianni Infantino gave the proposal a hearing, he did not publicly endorse it. More importantly, other powerful confederations, notably UEFA and Concacaf, immediately came out in strong opposition. Their leaders, Aleksander Ceferin and Victor Montagliani, acted as a firewall, preventing the idea from spreading.
This immediate resistance ensured that the proposal was isolated from the start. It was framed not as a global benefit, but as the ambition of a single confederation. With no powerful allies, Conmebol’s proposal had no path to a majority in the FIFA Council, where an insider confirmed it was already deeply unpopular.
The story of the 64-team proposal is the story of a domino effect that wasn’t. The unified front presented by the World Cup’s other key stakeholders meant that the push for expansion was stopped dead in its tracks.
