Club World Cup to expand to 48 teams: FIFA and UEFA’s plan for 2029 | OneFootball

UEFA gave in to Gianni Infantino's pressure to prevent the Club World Cup from being held every two years, a measure that guarantees more spots for South America in 2029.

The map of international football will undergo a new structural transformation in 2029. Following the positive outcome of the 2025 edition, FIFA obtained the necessary approval to expand the Club World Cup from 32 to 48 teams, a move that redefines elite competition and expands opportunities for clubs in the region.

This paradigm shift is part of a global expansion strategy led by Gianni Infantino, who managed to overcome the historic European resistance. The decision, which will be made official soon, not only changes the number of participants but also balances the political tensions between the two most powerful federations on the planet.

UEFA's approval was not a simple process nor free of conflicting interests. For months, the organization led by Aleksander Ceferin strongly opposed the expansion, fearing that a tournament of such magnitude would jeopardize the status of the Champions League and affect its lucrative commercial agreements.

However, the European Federation's stance changed after a strategic risk analysis. According to information from the British media The Guardian, the acceptance of the 48 spots acts as a sign of good faith to bring Ceferin and Infantino closer together.

In essence, UEFA applied the "lesser evil" criterion: they prefer a massive expansion every four years rather than facing Real Madrid's proposal to hold the tournament every two years, which would have definitively saturated the international calendar and devalued their own competitions.

The transition to 48 teams follows a logic of proportional representation that FIFA has already validated for its World Cup. Although the definitive spots per confederation are still a matter of speculation, the editorial criterion behind this measure suggests that the scheme of massive inclusion will be replicated.

To understand the magnitude of the change, just look at the 2026 World Cup model for national teams, where the expansion to 48 participants allowed for 16 spots for Europe and secured 6 direct spots for Conmebol, plus a potential seventh through a playoff.

In the realm of clubs, this mechanism will work similarly: by increasing the base from 32 to 48, it ensures that the confederations currently with less representation receive a significant boost, allowing the tournament to be truly global and not an exclusive domain of European powers.

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇪🇸 here.