​Gianni Infantino was elected Fifa president on a manifesto that included increasing the size of the World Cup [Getty Images]If we have learned one thing from 10 years of Gianni Infantino as Fifa president, it is that more is better.More tournaments, more games, more money.The new-look Club World Cup, the expanded World Cup, the inflated ticket prices.And, of course, the Super Bowl-style show that meant the half-time break at the World Cup final lasted 27 minutes and 22 seconds.But why stop there? Infantino appears to have thrown the door wide open to a 64-team World Cup.”If you don’t give smaller countries a chance to participate, they’ll lack the incentive to keep improving,” he said.Except, of course, smaller countries are not denied the chance. If they are good enough, they qualify. See Cape Verde, Curacao, Jordan and Uzbekistan.Purely in terms of the competition format, it does make sense. The top two teams in the 16 groups would go through to the knockout stage. No longer would there be a need to send a few third-placed teams through.But is there really any other logical reason to expand to 64 teams?Who is behind the proposed expansion?Let’s start with how we got here.The 2030 World Cup will mark 100 years since the first World Cup, which was held in Uruguay.The tournament will primarily be hosted by Morocco, Portugal and Spain – but the opening three matches will be played in Uruguay, Argentina and Paraguay as centenary hosts.Conmebol – the South American confederation – wants more games.In April 2025, it requested a one-off tournament of 64 teams so it could take on the full programme of the additional four groups.Its president, Alejandro Dominguez, said it would ensure “nobody on the planet is left out of the party”.Within hours of the 2026 tournament ending, Dominguez was again reiterating his desire for an expanded World Cup. In a series of posts on social media he said Conmebol was “working to ensure that the 2030 World Cup features 64 teams”.”International football grows when it opens up to the world,” he added.There has been little support from elsewhere.Uefa president Aleksander Ceferin dismissed it as a “bad idea” for both the tournament and qualifying process.Victor Montagliani – president of the governing body of North and Central America and the Caribbean (Concacaf) – said last year it would damage “the broader football ecosystem”.Asian Football Confederation (AFC) president Sheikh Salman bin Ibrahim Al Khalifa agreed, saying further expansion could bring “chaos”.None of which means it will not happen, with the decision taken by the 37 members of the Fifa Council.Would adding more teams devalue the World Cup?Cape Verde were one of the success stories of the World Cup, but they were the only debutants to get out of their group [Getty Images]A 64-team tournament has two main plus points: a more natural format, and more opportunities for emerging nations.It is the latter which Infantino is championing, especially after the heroics