FIFA President Gianni Infantino said any decision to further expand the World Cup to 64 teams will be considered only after the conclusion of this year's tournament, offering no indication of whether the proposal will move forward.
The 2026 World Cup in Canada, Mexico and the United States is the first to feature 48 teams after FIFA expanded the tournament from 32 nations. Although the change initially drew widespread criticism, debate has largely subsided since the competition began on June 11.
"These are all issues that we will be examining after the World Cup," Infantino told Swiss broadcaster Blue Sport.
Infantino, who championed the expansion to 48 teams, declined to provide further details, adding: "I think it is important that when you organize a World Cup, you do it for the whole world, not just Europe and South America, but effectively the entire world.
"Every nation should be allowed to dream of participating in the World Cup. You can see that the quality of the teams is extremely high, and it's getting higher and higher all over the world.
"If you don't give smaller countries a chance to participate in the World Cup, they'll lack the incentive to keep improving."
Infantino hailed the 48-team tournament as a success, saying: "Every team played at a high level. Teams from every continent scored goals and earned at least one point.
"Nine out of 10 African teams reached the knockout stage. At the last World Cup, there were only five teams from Africa. That just goes to show how important it is to include all teams and give them the opportunity to participate."
The size of the World Cup field increased to 32 teams in 1998. The next tournament, in 2030, will be co-hosted by Morocco, Portugal and Spain, while the 2034 World Cup will be held in Saudi Arabia.
Infantino, who rarely gives media interviews and has limited the number of formal news conferences he holds, acknowledged that introducing hydration breaks during each half, a move many have criticized as an attempt to help television broadcasters generate more advertising revenue, had proved controversial.
"This is a topic that sparks a lot of debate. After all, we don't want to get everything perfect. We like to give everyone something to disagree with. No, joking aside. Last year, during the Club World Cup in the United States, there were cooling breaks whenever it was very hot.
"These short breaks occurred in about 60% of the matches but not in the other 40% because the temperature wasn't as high. There were many complaints because people felt all teams should face the same conditions," he said.
He also defended the high ticket prices for the World Cup, saying: "The stadiums are full. Capacity utilization is at 99.7%, and it will likely reach 99.9% by the end.
"Our experts determined the ticket prices before the tournament and told us, 'These are the prices you can go with.' We see the proof now. Prices that some people claimed were too high are being resold on the secondary market, which is perfectly legal here, for four or five times the original cost."
Infantino said he expected FIFA to generate between 13 billion and 14 billion Swiss francs ($16.08 billion to $17.32 billion) from the 39-day World Cup.
"That is quite satisfactory," he said.
