Club World Cup to expand to 48 teams under FIFA and UEFA agreement

UEFA has reportedly agreed to a compromise backed by Gianni Infantino that blocks proposals to stage the Club World Cup every two years, while paving the way for an expanded 48-team format from 2029, a change expected to increase South American representation.

Following what has been described as a successful 2025 edition, FIFA secured the necessary support to grow the tournament from 32 to 48 clubs.

The reform significantly reshapes the competitive landscape at club level and broadens access for teams outside Europe’s traditional power base.

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The expansion forms part of Infantino’s broader globalisation strategy for elite football. Despite longstanding resistance from Europe, FIFA managed to advance the proposal, signalling a recalibration of influence between the sport’s two most powerful governing blocs.

Resistance from UEFA, led by Aleksander Ceferin, had centred on concerns that a larger Club World Cup could undermine the commercial strength and sporting prestige of the UEFA Champions League.

A tournament of greater scale was viewed as a potential threat to Europe’s flagship club competition and its revenue model.

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However, according to reporting by The Guardian, UEFA ultimately shifted its position following strategic deliberations.

Accepting a 48-team tournament every four years was considered a pragmatic compromise — particularly in light of alternative proposals, including suggestions from influential European clubs such as Real Madrid CF to hold the competition biennially.

A two-year cycle was widely viewed as a far greater risk to calendar stability and commercial balance.

By endorsing a four-year expansion rather than a more frequent format, UEFA effectively opted for a controlled enlargement over structural saturation of the international schedule.

The move aligns with FIFA’s broader proportional expansion model, already applied to the 2026 FIFA World Cup at the national-team level.

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That tournament’s increase to 48 participants allocated 16 slots to Europe while guaranteeing six direct places for CONMEBOL, with the possibility of a seventh via playoff.

A comparable logic is expected to guide the revamped Club World Cup. Expanding from 32 to 48 teams would likely provide additional places to under-represented confederations, ensuring a more globally balanced field and reducing the perception that elite club competition is dominated exclusively by European sides.

In effect, the 2029 restructuring represents both a political compromise and a strategic realignment — one designed to broaden global participation while preserving the competitive and commercial equilibrium of the international football calendar.